Canada crude fills energy gap for now

It may not be perfect, but it's in Iowa's interest to keep the flow going from the Alberta Oil Sands reserves.

We understand why some environmental groups are pushing to restrict the importation of crude derived from oil sands, but there also are benefits to consider in using petroleum derived from this neighboring source.

It's no small consideration that the oil comes from a nearby, politically stable democracy with which we have solid trade relationships. It also lessens our reliance on other foreign sources of oil by helping meet demand for fuel and natural gas that renewable sources aren't yet able to fill.

Canada is our country's single biggest source for crude oil and petroleum - exporting more than 2.6 million barrels per day to the United States, and Iowa depends just as heavily on refined products of that source.

About half of that Canadian crude oil is derived from oil sands, a naturally occurring mixture of sand or clay and

bitumen - a heavy oil which can be treated and used by

refineries to produce gasoline and diesel.

Alberta Oil Sands reserves are the second-largest source of oil in the world after Saudi Arabia. But recovering the bitumen is a relatively dirty and expensive process that generates higher greenhouse gas emissions than reclamation of light, sweet crude.

It takes three to five barrels of water to extract the bitumen - two tons of oil sand will produce only about one barrel of oil. Environmental groups see the practice as a wrong turn on the road to energy independence.

It's no permanent solution to our energy needs.

But oil sands operations are regulated by the Alberta's government departments of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. The government and private industry have invested heavily in reducing the environmental impact of oil sands production.

“I think it's a good example where every issue like this requires open thought and endorsement of hearing all sides to it,” Greg Carmichael, associate dean for research and graduate studies at the University of Iowa College of Engineering, told us this week. “There really are no simple solutions.”

Even as renewable energy sources grow, we'll need more oil to meet demands.

“In some sense, you could put it in the same category as using biofuels,” said Carmichael, who is co-director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research. “There's a lot to be said for it, there's a lot to be said against it.”

The American Petroleum Institute predicts if oil sands development is maximized, U.S. imports of Canadian crude could double by 2035.

With adequate environmental monitoring, it's a practical short-term solution as we develop renewable fuel sources and work on increasing energy efficiency in the decade ahead.