Reflections from our Energy Futures Lab Fellows
“The Albertan Oil Sands, and the province’s economic dependence on them needs to be an important focus for the province as it shifts to a modern energy future that is economically lucrative and sustainable.”
– Aproov Sinha
What does the future of Alberta’s energy system look like to Apoorv Sinha, founder of Carbon Upcycling Technologies, Research Manager of zEroCor Tubulars Inc, and Energy Futures Lab Fellow?
“In the future, it is important to create a system with distributed and localized energy sources where under-utilized resources like stranded natural gas and local ecosystems can be better utilized for local energy generation. Central power generation facilities like conventional nuclear and coal-powered plants will need to be transformed to more modular energy sources, fueled primarily by renewable energy sources and natural gas that can provide local power distribution. Initiatives like compressed air energy storage in caverns, small-scale solar modules will need to create localized power generation hubs, supplemented by technologies like Lithium-Sulphur batteries for energy storage at high densities.”
Apoorv is ready to bring his entrepreneurial, system-driven perspective on energy infrastructure to the Energy Futures Lab (EFL), as one of 40 Fellows selected to represent government, the energy sector, First Nations groups, and NGOs. The Fellows have been brought together by The Natural Step Canada in collaboration with The Suncor Foundation, The Pembina Institute, and The Banff Centre to initiate a shift in Alberta towards an energy system characterized by sustainability, resilience, and innovation.
Dr. Carol-Ann Brown, Director of Technology Services at The Delphi Group, and Operations Director for the Low Carbon Innovation Alliance notes that “Apoorv’s start up, Carbon Upcycling Technologies, is clear proof of his understanding that modern society requires more than tinkering at the edges, and that a perspective of the energy system, as a whole, is necessary. The utilization and transformation of carbon into a useful product replaces the current paradigm and practice of treating carbon as garbage and the atmosphere and oceans as society’s disposal system.”
Besides the impressive technical expertise and business-minded approach, Apoorv brings to the lab an understanding that “change can be driven through management but needs to be facilitated through changes at a tactical, grass-root level to be sustainable, effective and create an overall positive impact.”
In the face of the oil price shock, and in the wake of a historic political shift, Albertans are demonstrating that they are ready to shape their own energy narrative and shift their province in a direction that is fit for the future. As a Fellow, Apoorv will collaborate, innovate, and guide action towards an energy system that all Albertans can take pride in.
Aproov Sinha is and Energy Futures Lab Fellow. He is the founder of Carbon Upcycling Technologies and the Research Manager at zEroCor Tubulars Inc.
