Canadian bitumen is too viscous to transport by rail and pipeline to markets. One approach to solve this viscosity issue is to dilute the bitumen with a thinning agent to meet transport specifications, but the addition of diluent underutilizes pipeline capacity and increases production cost. A second approach involves the partial refinement of bitumen to produce synthetic crude, which better utilizes pipeline capacity; however, capital and operational costs are high. A third alternative is a new technology that involves wrapping bitumen in a polymer layer to form a solid "puck" termed Canapux, but transportation of this product to coastal ports is limited to rail. Also, greenhouse gas emissions are greater when oil is transported by rail rather than pipeline. In the end, a variety of bitumen products will be transported in Canada, but not all of these products will respond to remediation equally when spilled. In order to ensure effective spill contingency planning, we recommend that engineered bitumen products have physical properties that are resilient to change, within the range of typical response times, after a spill.

中文翻译：

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加拿大沥青是为运输而设计的，但是生产的产品类型会影响泄漏应急计划。

加拿大沥青太粘，无法通过铁路和管道运输到市场。解决此粘度问题的一种方法是用稀释剂稀释沥青以满足运输规范，但添加稀释剂不足以利用管道容量并增加生产成本。第二种方法涉及部分精炼沥青以生产合成原油，从而更好地利用管道产能。但是，资金和运营成本很高。第三种选择是一项新技术，该技术涉及将沥青包裹在聚合物层中以形成称为Canapux的固态“冰球”，但该产品向沿海港口的运输仅限于铁路运输。而且，当石油通过铁路而不是管道运输时，温室气体排放量也更大。最后，各种沥青产品将在加拿大运输，但并非所有这些产品在溢出时都会对修复做出同样的反应。为了确保有效的泄漏应急计划，我们建议工程沥青产品应具有在泄漏后的典型响应时间范围内能够灵活变化的物理特性。