Alberta invests over $60M toward lower emission future

The Alberta government announced an investment of over $60 million in a lower-emission future Wednesday, but there are still several hurdles to cleaner energy production.

The investment is meant to improve technologies and reduce emissions. In addition, the investment will fund 14 selected projects at various stages of development using the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund.

Alberta Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Shulz said in a news conference that the funds were awarded through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Industrial Transformation Challenge.

She says if all funded projects are successfully deployed, they will reduce an estimated 700,000 tonnes of emissions by 2030 and create about 1,700 new jobs.

“This funding is supporting some very cool projects that will have a big impact on emissions reduction in a variety of industries and in projects right across the province of Alberta,” Shulz told reporters.

“This includes a project producing battery materials for electric vehicles and includes a project transforming how cement is made and used and another one that’s using geothermal to power forestry operations and electrify industrial buildings.”

Shulz says all 14 projects involve piloting, demonstrating or deploying technology within Alberta and will help “ensure Alberta is at the forefront of emerging technologies.”

“These technologies are absolutely key to our shared future, they will play a big role in achieving Alberta’s aspiration for net zero by 2050, set out in our emissions reduction and energy development plan, and in securing the competitiveness of new and existing industries,” Shulz told reporters.

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But even with the investment, reducing emissions is still a big challenge for the country’s biggest oil and gas province.

University of Calgary professor in strategy, global management, and business and environment, Robert Shulz, says both the federal and provincial governments collect funds that will be spent by companies “who are actually going to do something.”

“The oil industry is not going away,” he told CityNews. “I mean, the demand for oil and gas in the world is going to go up probably [by] 2050.”

“So the challenge is how do you have the demand going up and reducing emissions and getting there zero emissions by 2050? That’s the challenge.”

If the program is successful, all of the projects together are expected to reduce emissions by 2.5 million tonnes by 2050. In addition, the new jobs are expected to have a GDP impact of around $337 million by 2025.

“So some of these technologies are going to work, and some of them are not, but the Alberta hope is that we can grow new industries to replace the old industries,” Robert said.

“So, you have to invest early in the technology to make things work in the long run, and that’s what the Alberta government is doing. You have to give them some credit.”