Program ID: Innovation Anthology #362
Program Date: 12/16/2010
Program Category: Energy, Engineering, Environment, Natural Resources, Oil Sands
Tailings Pact Removes Barriers for Scientists
Researchers at the University of Alberta have been investigating oil sands technology for decades. Now that the major oil sands companies have decided to collaborate on tailings research, this will help remove barriers and information gaps for the scientists.
Dr. David Lynch is the Dean of Engineering at the University of Alberta. He explains how the collaboration will work.
DR. DAVID LYNCH: This will translate very quickly into having a director who brings everything together, puts all of the technologies together to see what the road map looks like from front to back in the oil sands process, to say how can we see and integrate all those different technologies so we can see where one can influence the other. Because, of course, the first thing that is needed to know is what are all of the different pieces, what are the details at a very fundamental level of what each of the companies have been doing and doing their own research and innovation on, so that that can all be fully shared up front. That will all start to happen in 2011. Quite quickly.
Companies involved in the collaboration are Syncrude, Suncor, Imperial, Canadian Natural Resources, Shell Canada, Tech Resources, and Total E&P Canada.
Thanks today to Syncrude
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
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Dr. David Lynch, Dean of Engineering, University of Alberta
