| |  | Environment
Protect Tomorrow. Today.
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Integrating environment into the business
| Our success as a business enterprise will only be as good as our record of delivering strong environmental performance. We sum up this commitment with our focus to “Protect Tomorrow. Today.” |
An important part of our approach to delivering on our environmental commitments is Environmental Business Planning (EBP). Each year, our company identifies and integrates environmental improvements into business plans with a long-term view. Goals are updated annually, and progress is overseen by senior management through regular reviews.
EBP is focused on a number of goals. One is ensuring we meet new regulations and achieve zero regulatory compliance incidents. In addition, the Upstream business is focused on actions to reduce flaring and prevent spills. The Downstream and Chemical businesses also work to prevent environmental incidents and continuously reduce environmental emissions and wastes.
| Energy efficiency
We continue to seek ways to improve the energy efficiency of our operations. In 2008, for example, we installed a high-efficiency vacuum furnace and heat exchangers at Dartmouth refinery to reduce energy use and capture waste heat. Through these and other improvements, our refineries are 15 percent more energy efficient than in 1990.
In the Upstream, we are pursuing additional economic opportunities, focusing on energy-intensive operations such as Cold Lake. In 2008, we carried out a program of energy efficiency improvements at Cold Lake that included adding heat exchangers, improving fuel efficiency and piloting an online energy management system.
We also look for opportunities to increase energy efficiency in our retail service stations. Since 2005, we have installed energy conservation technology at more than 100 retail sites. The automated building systems are designed to manage andreduce electricity and energy consumption. In addition, more than 50 retail sites have been retrofitted with energy-efficient outdoor lighting.
Air quality emissions
We manage our impact on air quality by adding emission controls, improving plant reliability and enhancing our ability to detect and repair small leaks of fugitive emissions. In accordance with government regulations, we added emission controls at Cold Lake and began construction of emission reduction facilities at Sarnia and Dartmouth refineries. We also expanded the use of advanced optical imaging equipment to better detect and repair fugitive emissions. Our combined air emissions (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds) in 2008 were nine percent lower than 2007 levels.
| Water use at Cold Lake
We focus on the efficient use of water through the design and operation of our facilities and through recycling and reuse. At our Cold Lake operation, water is used to generate steam that is injected into underground oil sands to heat the bitumen so that it can be pumped to the surface. In 2008, the operation used less than half a cubic metre of fresh water to make one cubic metre of oil. This is 88 percent less fresh water per unit of production than in the mid-1970s. To achieve this result, about 86 percent of water used at the operation came from the recycling of water produced during oil recovery. Saline groundwater also continued to be pumped from deep aquifers for use in place of fresh water.
Biodiversity
A variety of actions are taken to protect biodiversity, including studying our impacts on wildlife and following strict operating guidelines when working in environmentally sensitive areas. In 2008, for example, we took special measures to reduce our impacts on marine mammals during a seismic program in the Beaufort Sea. The output volumn of the sound wave through the water was optimized to avoid undue noise in the ocean. Sound models that define the marine mammal safety zone were verified before seismic activity began. Marine mammal observers, including wildlife biologists and traditional knowledge experts from local Inuvialuit communities, monitored a safety zone for whales while the sound source was operating. We also funded a research program led by Cornell University to better understand whale activity in the Beaufort Sea.
| Land
We manage potential impacts to land throughout all phases of our operations, from project planning and construction to decommissioning and remediation. Some highlights of our activities in 2008 include:
- spending about $150 million on assessment, risk management, land remediation and reclamation programs for nonoperating sites, which include former well sites, refineries and retail service stations
- launching a trial program, in partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada, to explore ways to reclaim wetlands at Cold Lake well sites
- working with the City of Calgary to develop a long-term risk management program for property in southeast Calgary, the site of a former Imperial refinery
- receiving a certificate of compliance from the British Columbia government recognizing complete remediation of lands adjacent
to a former refinery on Burrard Inlet near Vancouver - working with city officials and the regulator in Fredericton, New Brunswick, to remediate a former retail service station site to provide land for a new water treatment and distribution plant
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| Managing water use
I have a passion for the environment and, like many Canadians, I have a strong interest in water quality and water management. I’m fortunate to be in a job that allows me to help protect this important resource. At Imperial, we’re continuing to look for ways to reduce our freshwater use. In our conventional business, where there’s declining oil production, we’ve voluntarily reviewed our water licences and have returned a significant volume of unneeded water allocation to the Alberta government. At the same time, we’re increasing our efficiency by producing more oil with the same amount of fresh water at our Cold Lake operation. Here, we’ve had a long history of continuous improvement resulting in freshwater conservation. Today the operation recycles the water that is produced with oil and, wherever possible, uses saline water instead of fresh water. This effort is continuing. Newer facilities, such as the operation’s Mahkeses plant, are designed with advanced technologies to run with little fresh water, and, as part of our licence renewal, we’re evaluating further opportunities to reduce water use across the operation. Our successful record in water management gives us confidence that we will continue to improve water performance in existing operations and future projects.
Stuart Lunn, senior environmental advisor, Imperial Oil Resources
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