Oil and gas versus renewables? That’s a false dichotomy, according to the Energy Futures Lab (EFL), an initiative that acknowledges the importance of Alberta’s significant natural advantage in fossil fuels and how it can be used as a stepping stone to a cleaner energy future.
What’s percolating for Alberta’s energy future? It is time for Alberta to learn what the Energy Futures Lab Fellowship has been up to, and attendees of the Innovating Alberta’s Energy Future Showcase on April 19 in Calgary are not going to be disappointed.
For the last few months, the Energy Futures Lab has been in recruitment mode, searching for promising leaders and influencers from across Alberta’s energy landscape to join the EFL Fellowship.
Since its inception in 2015, the Energy Futures Lab has had a primary focus on the development of the Fellowship and the co-creation of collaborative initiatives in the Innovation Pathways.
Well, 2016 was quite a year for Alberta. A lingering recession due to low oil prices. Provincial climate policies announced and enacted. A couple of pipelines approved. A dramatic U.S. presidential election and shifting global geopolitics.
2016 was a year of change and new realities. It ended with national and international developments that will impact Alberta’s energy system for years to come.
On December 5, 2016, approximately 170 people braved the cold to talk about the future of energy in Alberta at the University of Calgary’s downtown campus.Dr. David Layzell, Energy Futures Lab (EFL) Steering Committee Member and Director of the Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) project, argued that energy system transition is the “grand challenge for our society.”
No one ever said the transition to a new energy economy would be easy. From the very beginning, The Natural Step Canada (TNSC) was under a great deal of pressure to describe the impacts and outcomes of the Energy Futures Lab (EFL). We resisted prescribing a solution.
Navigating the interconnected web of issues surrounding energy, climate change and sustainable development is a complex task. Over the past year and a half, the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) has developed a platform for constructive dialogue and game-changing innovation.
Leaders from government, business, not-for-profit, academia and indigenous communities will gather in Calgary for a special two-day event on October 19 and 20. Their objective: to share proposed solutions for solving Alberta’s most complex and pressing energy challenges.
We are an Alberta-based coalition of diverse innovators and leading organizations working together to accelerate the transition to the energy system the future requires of us.
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