Environment committee  I'll get you a specific number, but it is significant.

Environment committee  I'll start, and my colleague will keep going. The answer, we believe, on the numbers we have—and we are confident with the numbers—is one to four, and it is three to four for the in situ. Oh, the three to four is for mining? Okay. But we know that Imperial Oil, for example, is moving to brackish water and saline water and is decreasing their use.

Environment committee  Can I just add to that? I think the sense is, again, that the slowdown in the growth of the oil sands we're experiencing right now--and we'll see how it goes--will no doubt have an effect on cumulative water use and on cumulative air emissions. As the members of the committee will know, the federal government and the Alberta government and Saskatchewan and others are working to move the technology on carbon capture and storage quickly with demonstration projects over the next number of years, which we think will be important in the oil sands as well as in other areas, such as in coal-fired generating plants, and so on.

Environment committee  Certainly. I'll start off by taking the opportunity to say that in 2007, 38 megatonnes of GHG came from the oil sands, and that was between 4% and 5% of the Canadian total. That was in response to a previous question. On the economics and the current forecast, we have provided, in the slides--I think it was slide seven--a sense of where we think it's going.

Environment committee  You would see Indian and Northern Affairs at the table, and there are other departments that don't necessarily have an environmental review responsibility for a major project. It's to understand all of the issues around the major project. This was set up largely for efficiency and to try to ensure that we're more comprehensive than we have been.

Environment committee  To answer your first question, CEAA does a coordination with the province. MPMO is responsible when there is a large project—and there is a definition for a major project. It is to try to have a one-window approach for the federal government, involving all of the responsible agencies, as I think they're called, but also all the other players who would be involved in that.

Environment committee  No, in fact the MPMO is similar in some ways to what Steve has outlined for CEAA. Its responsibility is to coordinate responsibilities across the federal system. There are a large number of federal players, and on the major projects you do want to make sure you have the players in the same room to talk about these issues.

Environment committee  Yes, I believe I have those numbers with me. I will find them before the end of today's session. I would say the issue of intensity has decreased by 32%, but your point, as I understand it, is that with the increase in the growth of the oil sands overall, it has outstripped significantly the improvements we've been able to make in terms of—

Environment committee  That's correct. With the growth of the oils sands, it's outstripped the improvements we've made in terms of intensity. The overall GHG emissions have gone up, and I'll get you those specific figures. It is, at this point, in the range of 5% of Canada's overall GHG emissions, and that's up from around 1% or 2% a number of years ago when this all started.

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will begin, and then you will hear from the Canadian Environmental Agency and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to meet with you and make this presentation before you. I will be giving you a brief overview of the situation with regard to the oil sands.

Environment committee  That's a good question. The great thing about carbon capture and storage is that the first opportunity is enhanced oil recovery, that it goes into depleted wells or reserves and could actually enhance the amount of oil you get out of it. You get another 10%, 20%, or 30%, and that's what they're doing in Weyburn.

Environment committee  I think the answer is that it will mean there is less water used per project, but it depends on the number of projects that are out there. But the objective is to get better than 90%. The objective is, at this point, an improvement in water usage and efficiency: the objective that the Alberta government set, and they're working with industry to achieve it, of a further 30% improvement by 2015.

Environment committee  I believe that the 2% of the flow—which is the figure that I've seen most often, and it is true you do see different figures, 1%, 2%, or 3%--speaks to the oil sands. That's the percentage of the flow that is being used by the oil sands. My understanding is it's 1% now and the 2% is expected with projects that are foreseen in the near future.

Environment committee  Again, I'll ask Dr. Hamza to add to what I'm saying. With regard to carbon capture and storage, one of the things our department is working on is something called a storage atlas, and it's going to point out where in Canada it's possible to store carbon dioxide. The challenge is actually capture.

Environment committee  Okay. I do not know exactly what the projection is for 2020. However, we did say that we are aiming for an overall reduction in emissions of about 20% for the industry as a whole. We have projections for even more reductions for the oil sands. In terms of what percentage of the overall that would be, I can't tell you, but we can certainly get you that information.