What are Toxic Fuels

See the damage of toxic fuels for yourself: watch our campaign film below or scroll through our photo gallery opposite.

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the trailer for BBC documentary 'Tar Wars' about our campaign and the Beaver Lake Cree Nation
other films supported by The Co-operative, including Dirty Oil and spOILt, a film by some young film-makers.
Tarnished Earth - a tar sands photo exhibition of devastating power. See Tarnished Earth at a city near you.

Click on an image then click the mouse, use the right/left arrow key or 'next' button to scroll through the images above.

All images courtesy of Jiri Rezac/WWF-UK except image 8, courtesy of digitaljournal.com.

Quick facts: Tar sands | Shale gas | Shale oil.

Tar sands: quick facts

Tar sands consist of oil trapped in a complex mixture of sand, water and clay.
extraction and production emits on average three times as much carbon dioxide compared to conventional oil.
Canada has proven reserves of 174 billion barrels of oil, second only to Saudi Arabia's conventional reserves and probable reserves of 315 billion barrels of oil, accessible using technology currently under development.
Canada's ultimate reserves are thought to be 1.7 trillion barrels of oil. Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Total, and BP all have projects and expansion plans or planned developments in Canada.
Current production is in the region of 1.3 million barrels of oil per day. $125 billion has been earmarked for tar sand developments within the next few years. The industry is calling for this to be trebled to $379 billion by 2025.
Production is forecast to increase to between 2.5 million and 6.2 million barrels per day by 2020. Oil companies have announced plans to increase production to 7 million barrels per day.

More: Read reports on tar sands and unconventional fuels | Tar sands films | Back to photo gallery

Shale oil: quick facts

Shale oil consists of oil trapped in sedimentary rock, which is released when the rock is super-heated.
Shale oil extraction emits up to eight times more carbon dioxide than conventional oil extraction.
Shale oil exploitation is still at the research and development stage, but millions of dollars are being invested to make it viable.
The US has estimated shale oil reserves of 1.5 trillion barrels of oil, probable accessible reserves are thought to be 800 billion barrels of oil.
Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil are all developing methods to exploit shale oil or have expressed an interest in doing so.

More: Read reports on unconventional fuels | Tar sands films | Back to photo gallery

Want to read more?

For more in depth information about unconventional fuels - tar sands and shale oil - and their impacts on the environment and wildlife, visit our Reports and resources section.

FREE Photo exhibition

Tarnsihed Earth is a spectacular photo exhibition FREE to all at a city near you. Visit the site. »

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