Asphalt - Petroleum Production, Alternatives and Bioasphalt

Petroleum Production, Alternatives and Bioasphalt

Naturally occurring crude Asphalt/bitumen impregnated in sedimentary rock is the prime feed stock for petroleum production from "Oil sands", currently under development in Alberta, Canada. Canada has most of the world's supply of natural asphalt/bitumen, covering 140,000 square kilometres (an area larger than England), giving it the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world. The Athabasca oil sands is the largest asphalt/bitumen deposit in Canada and the only one accessible to surface mining, although recent technological breakthroughs have resulted in deeper deposits becoming producible by in situ methods. Because of oil price increases since 2003, upgrading bitumen to synthetic crude oil has become highly profitable. As of 2006, Canadian crude asphalt/bitumen production averaged about 1.1 million barrels (170,000 m3) per day and was projected to rise to 4.4 million barrels (700,000 m3) per day by 2020. The total amount of crude asphalt/bitumen in Alberta which could be extracted is estimated to be about 310 billion barrels (50×10^9 m3), which at a rate of 4,400,000 barrels per day (700,000 m3/d) would last about 200 years.

Certain activist groups have become increasingly concerned about the global peak oil and climate change problem in recent years due to byproducts released into the atmosphere. Most of the emissions are derived primarily from burning fossil fuels. This has led to the introduction of petroleum alternatives, such as bioasphalt, that are more environmentally friendly and less toxic.

Asphalt/bitumen can now be made from nonpetroleum-based renewable resources such as sugar, molasses and rice, corn and potato starches. Asphalt/bitumen can also be made from waste material by fractional distillation of used motor oils, which is sometimes disposed by burning or dumping into landfills. Nonpetroleum-based asphalt/bitumen binders can be made light-colored. Lighter-colored roads absorb less heat from solar radiation, and have less surface heat than darker surfaces, reducing their contribution to the urban heat island effect.