title: Well-to-Wheels Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Canadian Oil Sands Products: Implications for U.S. Petroleum Fuels.
abstract: Greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations affecting U.S. transportation fuels require holistic examination of the life-cycle emissions of U.S. petroleum feedstocks. With an expanded system boundary that included land disturbance-induced GHG emissions, we estimated well-to-wheels (WTW) GHG emissions of U.S. production of gasoline and diesel sourced from Canadian oil sands. Our analysis was based on detailed characterization of the energy intensities of 27 oil sands projects, representing industrial practices and technological advances since 2008. Four major oil sands production pathways were examined, including bitumen and synthetic crude oil (SCO) from both surface mining and in situ projects. Pathway-average GHG emissions from oil sands extraction, separation, and upgrading ranged from ∼6.1 to ∼27.3 g CO2 equivalents per megajoule (in lower heating value, CO2e/MJ). This range can be compared to ∼4.4 g CO2e/MJ for U.S. conventional crude oil recovery. Depending on the extraction technology and product type output of oil sands projects, the WTW GHG emissions for gasoline and diesel produced from bitumen and SCO in U.S. refineries were in the range of 100-115 and 99-117 g CO2e/MJ, respectively, representing, on average, about 18% and 21% higher emissions than those derived from U.S. conventional crudes. WTW GHG emissions of gasoline and diesel derived from diluted bitumen ranged from 97 to 103 and 96 to 104 g CO2e/MJ, respectively, showing the effect of diluent use on fuel emissions.
authors.affiliation: †Systems Assessment Group, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, 367 Panama Street, Green Earth Sciences Building, 065, Stanford, California 94305, United States.
authors.forename: Adam R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.affiliation: §Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, 1605 Tilia Street, Davis, California 95616, United States.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, 367 Panama Street, Green Earth Sciences Building, 065, Stanford, California 94305, United States.
authors.forename: Jacob G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Englander
authors.affiliation: †Systems Assessment Group, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Jeongwoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: †Systems Assessment Group, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Amgad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elgowainy
authors.affiliation: †Systems Assessment Group, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Michael Q
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002170:Canada; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D005742:Gasoline / Q000032:analysis; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D061329:Oil and Gas Fields / Q000737:chemistry*; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D014186:Transportation; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D005742:Gasoline; D010578:Petroleum; D002244:Carbon