completely clean water used to extract bituminous oil sands
The extraction of oil sands has resulted in a real economic boom in Alberta. However, this activity also raises major environmental concerns. But an innovation created by Montréal firm Gradek Energy is providing a lot of hope: the company has developed a procedure that can completely clean the water used for the extraction of oil sands. As water used in the procedure is recycled, its heat is maintained, thereby reducing the intensity of carbon emissions from oil sand operations. A true revolution in the field! The solution developed by Thomas Gradek allows the oil and gas industry’s hydrocarbon waste to be recovered using polymer beads. Since the beads attract oil, not only is it possible to clean the water and soil but also to recover ethical and clean petroleum, and rare minerals: gold, silver, aluminium oxide, titanium, palladium, cerium, yttrium, and zircon. These rare metals are in high demand by the information technology and green technology industries. An initial facility, which will treat waste from Syncrude Canada, will be in operation in the spring. But the firm has big plans and intends to create 4,500 jobs over the next five years. And it has good reason to be confident: its technology is recognized by the global oil and gas industry, the provincial and federal governments, important firms such as Véolia, LuxResearch, SNC-Lavalin, and the American and Canadian coast guards.
