Sitting in his kitchen with a ballpoint pen and a small coiled notebook, Walter considers his expenses. With December looming around the corner, he laments the fact that his furnace, after all these years, has chosen to retire on the heels of winter. With his natural gas furnace no longer working, Walter has purchased two electric heaters to warm his home. These new additions leave him feeling unsure of how best to tackle his energy bills and this nervousness inspires him to

The outbreak of COVID-19 has triggered a global economic crisis that was unimaginable even two weeks ago, and perhaps nowhere is that being felt more acutely than in Alberta. In addition to the obvious consequences of social distancing on businesses and industry, we’re also dealing with a gut-wrenching collapse in oil prices that’s being driven in part by a deepening conflict between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Taken together, the combination of falling oil prices and a temporar

“We can’t forecast our way to the future that we want,we really need to begin with the end in mind.” – Chad Park, Lead Animator with Energy Futures Lab For years, the work explored within Energy Futures Lab (EFL) has flown mostly under the radar. Our community has collaborated on initiatives aimed at building a thriving, future economy. Now, a global shift is occurring and the Lab is seeing opportunities to expand our community and engage more broadly. On April 16th, the EFL

In many ways, this has been the Year of Carbon at the EFL. We need to re-imagine carbon and re-imagine waste to make a substantial reduction in GHG emissions. We have been supporting carbon neutral and carbon positive initiatives as well as refreshing EFL’s portfolio of initiatives to solve interrelated climate, environmental and economic challenges. Reducing carbon emissions from oil and gas assets and leveraging Alberta’s legacy infrastructure are important areas for the La

2018: A Good Year Last year was a good year at the EFL. While our team is conscious that there is much to achieve in 2019, let me take a moment to acknowledge a number of accomplishments in 2018. The EFL was recognized as one of the Clean50’s Top 20 projects in Canada for 2018 for its outstanding contribution to clean capitalism. This recognition is grounds for pride in our work and evidence of the unique potential of The Natural Step Canada’s Sustainability Transition Labs

On Tuesday this week, I was interviewed by host Laura Lynch on CBC Radio One’s Vancouver morning show, the Early Edition, for a segment about Alberta. The experience of the interview has me thinking a lot about the challenges we need to overcome in Canada to address energy and climate issues together. The framing for the interview was the recent announcement by Premier Rachel Notley about Alberta temporarily curtailing oil production, set against the messages from this week’s

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a rapidly developing area of technological advancement over the last 10 years and more, yet it is only very recently that the buzz about its implications and potential for Alberta’s energy sector has really escalated. Why is that? How can artificial intelligence enable Alberta to thrive in a competitive, low-carbon world? Three possible reasons come to mind. First, there is now a far better collection and recording of historical energy da

Amidst the drama of recent pipeline and trade war news, you may be forgiven if you missed another announcement that will be important in shaping Alberta’s economic future. On May 29th, Calgary-based E3 Metals announced that it had reached an important technical milestone that moves it one step closer to being able to extract lithium from oilfield brine. Alberta could become a key supplier of this globally-relevant material on the strength of its petroleum industry. Instead o

The world is poised for a massive transition in energy production and use. Making this transition will be critical to ensure the long-term sustainability of our environment, economies, and communities. It will be a monumental challenge, but a challenge replete with opportunity. Alberta is ready to lead and Albertan communities are on the front lines As a global leader in energy innovation Alberta is perfectly positioned to lead the transition with a vision of prosperity that

Calling all Alberta energy entrepreneurs! We need you and your ideas! In partnership with ATB Financial, we are launching an energy-themed Alberta BoostR campaign and seeking 15-20 projects to participate. What is ATB BoostR? Alberta BoostR is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform from ATB Financial designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses in Alberta. Through Alberta BoostR, businesses can raise money, test ideas, and gain exposure and market insights from the “crowd”

Alberta is poised for a big leap forward in energy innovation. This will be on display in early November at SPARK 2017 , a two-day conference in Edmonton co-hosted by Emissions Reductions Alberta (ERA) and Alberta Innovates (AI). Many EFL partners and Fellows will be taking part in the event. In preparation for SPARK 2017, Energy Futures Lab Director and Chief Innovation Officer of The Natural Step Canada, Chad Park sat down with Steve Macdonald, ERA’s Chief Executive Offic

Shell Canada’s Chris Fry has been a Fellow in the Energy Futures Lab since its inception. “I wanted to get involved because I felt it was important to include Indigenous voices in the Lab when talking about Alberta’s energy future,” says Chris. “I’ve gained a network and an understanding of just how complex the issues are in energy transition”. “Through the Lab I’ve learned backcasting and gained new skills in strategic planning and collaborating with people who have differe

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. The EFL Fellows have been the driving force at the centre of this important work, and nothing has been so impressive to me personally as witnessing the abilities and growth of these innovators and influencers, as a group and as individuals.

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. Our Fellowship – more diverse than we could have hoped – has created a shared vision and innovation pathways, generated new ideas, and brought existing initiatives into the lab to amplify and scale. Describing an

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. This October event is an opportunity for the EFL to make its network of ideas even more inclusive and tested with as many diverse perspectives as possible before scaling up and communicating broadly through a

Earlier this fall Alberta’s Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous appointed Gord Lambert to chair a Climate Technology Task Force, which will engage stakeholders and advise the government on a framework for climate change innovation and technology. In addition to supporting research and development and investing in new technology ventures, let’s also create opportunities for the scores of innovators and influencers in Alberta to interact with one another in unp

Part Three: Opportunities for Alberta’s Energy Future Following last month’s GLOBE Conference in Vancouver, Energy Futures Lab Director Chad Park caught up with two members of the Energy Futures Lab Advisory Council, Tzeporah Berman and Toby Heaps, both of whom had important roles at GLOBE and its surrounding events. The following is part three of the three-part discussion and focuses on specific considerations and opportunities for Alberta’s energy future. Part one explored

Part Two: Updates from GLOBE Conference 2016 Following last month’s GLOBE Conference in Vancouver, Energy Futures Lab Director Chad Park caught up with two members of the Energy Futures Lab Advisory Council, Tzeporah Berman and Toby Heaps, both of whom had important roles at GLOBE and its surrounding events. The following is part two of the three-part discussion and focuses on infrastructure and policy to guide energy transition. Part one explored some of the big internation

Part One: The Latest International Developments Following last month’s GLOBE Conference in Vancouver, Energy Futures Lab Director Chad Park caught up with two members of the Energy Futures Lab Advisory Council, Tzeporah Berman and Toby Heaps, both of whom had important roles at GLOBE and its surrounding events. The following is part one of the three-part discussion and focuses on some of the big international developments that Tzeporah and Toby believe are changing the playi

The Energy Futures Lab is very pleased to announce the support of the Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF).  AREF’s Board of Governors has approved a grant of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) to foster community engagement with a focus on energy literacy across Alberta. This is a bold commitment by AREF toward co-creating the province’s energy future as part of the Foundation’s 25th anniversary. “We want people to really understand where their energy com