Mr. Chair, I am delighted to be here tonight to take part in this very fascinating and important debate.
Before I begin, I would like to say that I will share my time with the member for Lethbridge and the member for Prince Albert.
It is certainly true that Canada is a natural resources powerhouse. It is also clear that Canada is rapidly becoming a leader in sustainable resource development. I am proud to be a part of a government that shows such a powerful commitment to developing our natural resources in a way that supports both our economic and our environmental goals. This is especially true of our energy resources.
Canada is truly blessed in this regard. We have enough fossil fuels, uranium, hydro power and other renewable resources to qualify as an energy superpower. Our goal is to be a clean energy superpower.
To reach that goal, our government is making substantial investments that are accelerating the growth of a strong, domestic, clean energy industry. Wind is now the fastest growing part of our electricity sector, our biofuels industry is expanding rapidly and we are leaders in the development of next generation biofuels.
I am proud to say that in my constituency of Vegreville—Wainwright, we have, just across the border in Llyodminster, a very large ethanol project and two biodiesel projects planned for my constituency. I know that there will be expansion in this sector as time goes on. This growth will continue but, as the International Energy Agency and others have stated, fossil fuels will continue to be the primary source of the world energy for decades to come. That is simply a reality, whether we like it or not. This puts Canada in a position that is both advantageous and strategic.
We have an estimated 10 billion tonnes of coal reserves. We have large deposits of natural gas and we are only beginning to understand how much we may have in the north. We have substantial conventional oil reserves and, as we know, the oil sands is the second largest proven reserve on Earth.
It is worth considering, for a moment, just how much oil that represents. The 170 billion barrels in the oil sands is six times the conventional oil reserves of the United States and Canada combined. The known reserves of 170 billion barrels in the oil sands is six times the combined conventional oil reserves of Canada and the United States. And, as technology to extract oil improves, the yield may almost double to 315 billion barrels.
The oil sands also represents more than 40% of the world's non-OPEC oil and 60% of the world's non-sovereign oil. In short, in addition to the massive economic benefit they bring to Canada, the oil sands are a major strategic resource for all of North America.
The challenge, of course, is to minimize the environmental impact of producing this critical resource. With our partners in other levels of government, in the research community and with industry itself we are making progress.
Up to 90% of the water used in the oil sands drilling operations is now being recycled. As well, drilling operations, also known as in situ operations, are increasingly moving to the use of underground sources of water, that is saline and brackish water that is unsuitable for drinking and agriculture use. Less than 1% of the average annual flow of the Athabasca River is used in the oil sands, and a water management framework limits, monitors and adjusts freshwater withdrawal from the river on a weekly basis.
Listening to the opposition and listening to some of the radical environmental elements, one would think that half of the flow or more of the Athabasca River is being used in the oil sands when it is in fact less than 1%. That is something that certainly is not well-known because there are a lot of people, some across the aisle in this House, who give less than factual information on this. It is important that we correct the record.
We continue to seek better ways to manage tailings. The ultimate goal is to replace the tailings pond with new technology like dry stackable tailings. This could eliminate the need for tailings ponds altogether and further reduce water consumption. A lot of the work on this is being done by Natural Resources Canada labs in Devon, Alberta, which is near Edmonton, just outside of my constituency.
Regulations impose a strict requirement for land reclamation and remediation, and extensive research continues to develop new methods to improve both the effectiveness and the speed of land reclamation efforts.
Investments by our government in other technologies such as carbon capture and storage will also help reduce emissions from the production of crude oil and from the oil sands and other fossil fuels.
Together with our partners in the public and private sectors, Canada is the world leader in carbon capture and storage and many other leading technologies that will reduce the environmental impact of our fossil fuel industries.
I want to close with a question for the minister. The Government of Canada, as I think everyone knows, has stated its concern about the environmental impacts associated with oil sands development. I want the minister, if he would, to lay out some of the specific things that this government is doing to address the environmental impacts of the oil sands development.
