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It is an expensive, energy-hungry process - the richest oil sand is about 10% oil, and it takes about two tonnes of it to make just one barrel of oil.
Deeper layers of oil sands are only accessible through in-situ technology, where steam is injected into the ground to soften the oil sands, which are then sucked up to the surface.
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Oil sands production is said to emit three to five times the amount of greenhouse gases than conventional oil production.
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Residents of a community downstream from the plants, Fort Chipewyan, complain of a rise in cancer rates, which they fear is a result of toxins from the tar sands ending up in their diet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7762226.stm