Innovation Anthology #659:
Over the last fifty years, the type of research Syncrude conducts has evolved significantly.
The early decades were preoccupied with improving the technology for producing oil from the oil sands in a cost effective way.
But as research and development manager Glen Rovang explains, the emphasis has now shifted to environment and sustainability.
GLEN ROVANG: In the last decade we’ve had a significant focus on sustainable and progressive reclamation. tailings management, and putting in place sustainable landforms, ultimately so vegetation grows well both upland vegetation, but as well as wetlands. Because wetlands are a significant part of the landscape up in the Fort McMurray area. And actually the Sand Hill Fen research project is very much about putting a fen groundwater fed wetland back in that landscape. Today, about 60 percent of our R&D budget goes towards environmental research of that type.
Glen Rovang says Syncrude was recently honoured by ASTech, the Alberta Science and Technology Foundation, for its contributions to oil sands science over the last fifty years.
Thanks today to SYNCRUDE
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I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
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Syncrude
Program Date: 2015-01-20