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Courtesy of 
Photo courtesy of the Darwin Foundation |
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| Courtesy of
Photo courtesy of the Darwin Foundation |
(Note: This resource is not about chocolate mousse. It is about oil, water, and oil spills. Chocolate mousse is a name given to a particular combination of oil and water that sometimes forms when oil is spilled.)
The best way to protect our environment from oil spills is to prevent them from occurring. Our most important prevention system is people - people who know how to handle an oil spill emergency, and people who care.
Most oil spilled in Canada is from small accidents rather than the major spills we hear about in the news. Spills can occur at any point - from the production site to your neighbourhood gasoline station.
We all have a role in protecting the environment from oil spills. But first, let's take a closer look at oil and how we use it.
Oil accumulations are found in or near sedimentary basins. Here are the most important basins in Canada.
Key:
Oil is the mixture of complex hydrogen and carbon compounds, known as hydrocarbons, found below the surface of the Earth. Most of these compounds are the fossil remains of prehistoric forests and seafloor life. The plants and animals were buried in layers of sediment, like silt and sand, before they could decompose. More and more layers were deposited. Over a period of millions of years, the pressure and slow bacterial degradation converted the deposits of organisms to crude oil.
Some crude oil is found near the Earth's surface, in oil-laden tar sands and shales. However, most oil exists in reservoirs in the sedimentary rock located deep below the surface of the land and of the seafloor.
Major Canadian deposits of oil are found in the sedimentary basins shown on the map.
Because it is a relatively inexpensive source of energy and is the feedstock for many products. Oil is easy to transport and has a high energy value per unit of volume. It is the world's most important traded commodity.
Energy allows us to carry out a wide range of activities - and oil is one of the most important sources of energy. From oil come gasoline and other fuels that can be burned to release their fossil energy.
Oil is our main source of transportation fuel - it is used in vehicles, aircraft and ships. Oil heats many of our homes, offices, schools, hospitals and shopping centres. And one of the biggest oil users of all is industry-oil provides the energy to transform raw materials into objects we use every day. Oil is also a raw material for thousands of industrial and consumer products, including plastics, paints, rubber, fertilizers, detergents, dyes, textiles and solvents.
Geographically, Canada is the second largest country in the world. Its climate is cold, and the population is scattered. Canada has abundant natural resources, including oil, so many industries that need crude oil have located here.
Although Canadians use less than three percent of the oil consumed in the world each year, on a per capita basis Canada is one of the biggest users of oil.
On an average day, Canada uses about 1,665,000 barrels of oil.
Getting petroleum from its source to you may require up to 15 transfers, using ocean tankers, pipelines, trains and tanker trucks. On its journey, the oil may also be held in temporary storage in various facilities. Each time a transfer is made, the risk of a spill increases. Most of Canada's oil is transported by pipeline.
Major spills in recent years have increased global awareness of the risks associated with transporting and storing oil. Canada has the longest coastline in the world as well as extensive freshwater transportation routes. Canada has diverse environments to protect.
Based on current levels of tanker traffic, Canada can expect over 100 small oil spills, about 10 moderate spills and at least one major spill offshore each year. There are also more than 1,000 inland spills in Canada each year. A catastrophic spill (over 10,000 tonnes) may occur once every 15 years.
