By Marina Osmond

Although there are negative side effects, the oil sands in Alberta are a necessary and vital part of Canada's economy, which allows our economy to expand. Oil feeds the engine that drives the world economy, yet the environment is suffering from it. But the environment price is a short-term pain we must endure for prosperity in the longer term.
Canada is the number one supplier of oil for the U.S. The oil sands in northern Alberta now supply Americans with approximately 1,800,000 barrels per day, a big increase from 2005 when Canada supplied Americans with 10 per cent of their crude oil. The oil sands in Alberta are a huge breakthrough in crude petroleum production. Alberta supplies Canada with 70 per cent of the country's natural gas production.
According to recent reports, Saudi Arabia's production is in a close second to Alberta's oil sands. A whopping 17 trillion barrels of oil was the initial volume in place while the remaining ultimate potential is 315 billion barrels. The oil sands produce about 1.126 billion barrels per day. The project is 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has two companies based within Calgary and Alberta. They call the oil sands in Alberta the Horizon Project.
Oil sands look like black rock contained with tiny particles of sand. The oil is not produced until it is heated and oil slowly melts out of the rock. Oil is found in three major areas, covering 140,200 square kilometres. That's larger than the state of Florida or an area twice the size of New Brunswick with eight times the reserves of Saudi Arabia. Whichever way you look at it, the size is enormous and there is still more mining to do. There are hundreds of opportunities for employment.
The oil sands have transformed Canada into a world energy super power. Separating the thick, heavy oil from sand and clay is a massive and expensive job and many environmentalists feel Alberta is turning Canada into one of the biggest polluting countries in the world. With the rising price of oil, there is a mad dash underway to extract every last drop possible. Even though these oil sand factories are major polluters, we need these resources to sustain our economy.
To avoid polluting the earth from oil extraction, we could rely on other fuels such as ethanol fuel and biodiesel fuels or solar power. Ethanol is a biofuel alternative to gasoline that is already widely used for cars in Brazil. It is made from starch and sugars from crops. This may one day replace fossil fuels in vehicles. Biodiesel fuels are non-petroleum based diesel fuel that consists of animal fats and vegetables. Biodiesel fuels are used not only in cars but in planes and trains which is becoming much more common. Solar power is the conservation of sunlight into electricity but the cost is very high.
These alternatives are such safer for the environment, but these technologies are expensive and the technology is only slowly improving. They cannot supply the world's energy needs yet.
If the oil had not been found in Canada's oil sands, it might well have been found somewhere else, where the same environmental issues would prevail and that nation would reap the profits. At this time, there is no viable energy alternative to replace oil, so Canada should take full advantage of the oil boom, while it lasts. Luckily Canadians are people who care about the environment so it is fortunate to find the oil here.