Early October is a good time to catch a shooting star. As the Draconid meteor showers streaked across the night sky, another group of shooting stars were being hailed for their outstanding contributions to sustainability in Canada and Alison Cretney, Managing Director of the Energy Futures Lab, was among them.
Joining a standout field of honorees, Alison was recently named one of Canada’s Clean50 award recipients for 2025 and we couldn’t be more thrilled for her to receive recognition for her dedication and leadership in accelerating Alberta’s energy transition. From the early days of the Lab her strategic insight, commitment to collaboration, and propensity for bold action have made the Lab a dynamic force for change. Over the past decade under Alison’s guidance, it’s become a trusted hub for multi-stakeholder innovation across the energy sector in Alberta and beyond.
With her driving force at the helm, the Lab hasn’t just kept pace with the energy transition – it’s been instrumental in setting the course and expanding our impact. Not only has the Lab tripled in size, in the last two years alone it’s launched over 35 groundbreaking projects. From roadmaps for Canada’s sustainable aviation fuels and battery metals industries, policy projects on novel markets for hydrocarbon assets, to the modernization of Alberta’s electricity grid, no challenge has been too complex to undertake. The Lab has become a powerful enabler of change, engaging hundreds of energy leaders each year and inspiring thousands of Albertans and Canadians to embrace the opportunities of a low-emission future.
This was the basis for Alison’s selection as a Canada’s Clean50 honoree. The awards honour 50 exceptional sustainability leaders driving environmental and economic impact across the country. On October 10th, Alison joined other recipients – both past and incoming – at the Clean50 Summit in Toronto to celebrate this accomplishment and connect with other leaders, innovators, and changemakers.
This milestone is not only a reflection of Alison’s contributions to the field, but also builds on the Lab’s history of creating system-level impact. The EFL is no stranger to Clean50 recognition, having received a number of accolades for innovative, high-impact projects driving sustainable change.
A Legacy of Clean50 Awards
2024: C-SAF Roadmap for Sustainable Aviation Fuels
Last year, the EFL was honoured with a joint Clean50 Top Project award for its role in convening stakeholders and publishing the C-SAF Roadmap: Building a feedstocks-to-fuels SAF supply chain in Canada in partnership with C-SAF and the Transition Accelerator. This project provided a shared vision and action plan for advancing sustainable aviation fuels in Canada. The roadmap identified priority actions and investments required to position Canada as a leader in sustainable aviation, shaping the path forward for both industry and government.
2022: LEAD Project
In 2022, the Lab’s Leveraging our Energy Assets for Diversification (LEAD) initiative earned a Top Project award. This project, in partnership with the Canada West Foundation, united 25 participants from 16 organizations to develop a non-partisan bill focused on repurposing inactive oil and gas infrastructure. LEAD aimed to unlock entrepreneurial opportunities by closing regulatory gaps, encouraging the reuse of brownfield sites, and addressing Alberta’s challenge with orphaned wells. The project exemplified how thoughtful collaboration can align policy, regulation, and innovation to solve complex energy challenges.
2018: Social Innovation in Energy Transition
The Lab’s first Clean50 recognition was in 2018 for championing a social innovation approach to the energy transition and highlighted EFL’s ability to shift polarized energy conversations into collaborative dialogue – harnessing tensions and leading to system-level impact. Recognized for creating a platform for innovation and experimentation and also for reframing narratives about energy in Canada, the early success of what we now call the ‘EFL way’ laid the foundation for many of the current innovation areas we’re actively working in today.
A Bright Future for Energy Innovation
Alison’s recent Clean50 award win is a nod to her personal achievements as an outstanding leader, and also a reflection of the impact the Energy Futures Lab continues to strive for. Having been consistently at the forefront of a system in transition for close to a decade, making impact through co-creation and innovation towards achieving our shared energy future has been a remarkable journey.
On behalf of the entire Lab team and our community, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Alison for this well-deserved honour. As we celebrate this win, we are reminded of the opportunities ahead. May each of us be inspired and endeavor to face the road ahead with the same unwavering boldness and zeal.
