Alberta could create thousands of jobs, generate $61B from global energy transition: report

A global energy transition could create 170,000 jobs in the cleantech sector and $61 billion in GDP to Alberta’s economy by 2050.

That’s according to a new report conducted by Delphi Group, Foresight Canada and Cleantech Group.

However, Alberta can only achieve this by investing more than $2.1-billion a year in cleantech by 2030, increasing to $5.5 billion by 2040.

The study warns without investments that align with commitments to net-zero, Alberta would only generate 20,000 new jobs and $4-billion in GDP by 2050.

“When we can experientially increase the number of jobs and GDP, why wouldn’t we focus on this?” Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek told reporters.

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“This is really the ability to take some empirical evidence to other orders of government as well as capital markets and say ‘please come to Calgary, we have an opportunity for you and this is what we can do in terms in energy transformation if you invest in us.'”

Alberta’s current level of investment in cleantech is less than $1 billion.

The study identified six sectors in Alberta that have the greatest potential to attract business and create quality jobs:

• Agtech and Agriculture,
• Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage,
• Digitalization,
• Electrification,
• Energy Efficiency
• Hydrogen Production and Utilization.

Mayor Gondek and Energy Minster Sonya Savage are attending the World Petroleum Congress in Houston, Texas trying to promote the province as the next leader in clean energy.