"In late 2000, AMEC set out to develop a CSD programme appropriate for our newly expanded global business and today it is a huge part of our business," said Tim Conley, Managing Director of AMEC's Earth & Environmental European operations. "What we are trying to do with this project is not just look at our impact on the environment in a negative way but track what positive contributions we are making to the environment."
"AMEC has a technology that it uses to minimise potentially harmful amounts of chlorophyll from blue-green algae in freshwater if too much gets in, then it can eat up all the oxygen and no fish or marine life can go on living in the water. However we can put aeration systems in place to prevent the development of low-oxygen conditions. Earth Observation will help support decision-making to operate this technology."
Towards clean extraction of Canadian oil sands
The Hatfield Group, an environmental consultancy firm based in Canada, will exploit satellite data to monitor CSD practices of Shell Canada related to the exploitation of oil sands located in rural Alberta province, estimated to be the largest known oil reserves in the world.
These bitumen-saturated sand deposits represent the equivalent of between 17 and 25 trillion (million million) oil barrels, although unlike conventional crude oil they need to be mined in situ rather than simply pumped to the surface and then specially treated before they can be transported via pipeline.
As global oil reserves dwindle, the cost of extracting Canada's oil sands has become feasible: one million barrels of oil are currently extracted daily and this figure has the potential to
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Contact: Mariangela D'Acunto
mariangela.dacunto@esa.int
39-069-418-0856
European Space Agency
7-Feb-2006