Extra Extra

Yes, even with the nuclear reactors and huge water inputs, though, their output has already been factored into most of the more realistic peaker scenarios (i.e. they replace 5m bpd, but crude goes down 10m bpd, for instance).

http://beastsbelly.blogspot.com/2005/08/tar-sands-will-save-us.html

It sounds like they are building nuclear reactors on site (at least one). The Canada tar sands field discussed in the article already has output of a million barrels of synthetic crude a day, expected to double by 2010 and triple by 2015.

Peak oil isn't about oil running out - it's about next year having fewer barrels pumped than this year. And yes, $8/gallon (in current dollars) would be enough to make the TTC a non-starter.

Tar sands are a joke anyways. So much water and power input required that you basically need to build a couple of nuclear power plants on site.

Interesting article in this week's New Yorker about tar sands mines in Alberta:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/12/071112fa_fact_kolbert

Basically, projects like this (and similar coal-to-liquid projects in the U.S.) are going to keep supplying gasoline long after light sweet crude runs out. Prices will be higher, but probably not enough higher to stop sprawl/highway development and not enough higher to enable development of non-carbon based energy. Carbon emissions will continue to rise - probably even faster than they are rising now, because producing gasoline from this stuff requires much more energy than producing gasoline from oil.

1200 feet wide?

At 1200 feet wide, Texas will basically be forced (over time) to have two biologically distinct ecosystems when the wildlife populations are split. Why do I get the sinking feeling that no matter how much environmental research is done, they'll just ignore the fact that this thing is going to bisect the migratory paths of any number of large and small animal species? (Instead, they'll focus on pollution runoffs, etc)

What a waste.

Shilli, even though we passed Prop 12 (was I right about that or what?), we'll never have enough money to build the TTC before oil gets too expensive to make it worthwhile. That, at least, there's no real reason to fear. On the other hand, any day now expect the bleating about eliminating the gas tax to begin (and extra points when you identify many people among that group as the same folks who previously said they wanted a higher gas tax instead of tolls).

Looking at that giant highway is really depressing.