Driving through central Alberta is quintessential prairie. The big skies, aspen groves, golden wheat fields and sunlit canola crops are...

Dear Lab Community, Over the past nine years the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) has been hosting innovation processes and supporting...

Canada has the raw materials and commodities that the world is increasingly desperate for today, and the innovation capital to turn them into the future-fit energy that will be in demand for generations to come. ... Nobody ever said the energy transition would be easy, but few likely imagined it would be this chaotic. In retrospect, it was probably tempting to think that the transition to a low-emission economy could be a gentle and gradual affair. Well, so much for that. Wit

The Energy Futures Lab contributes to a growing battery metals industry The EV Revolution Every so often, humans stumble upon a resource that accelerates our progress in unimaginable ways. With the discovery of fire, we learned to illuminate the world around us, unearthing countless new opportunities. We learned to harness the wind and the sun, we made something of bitumen and natural gas. Each of these discoveries allowed us to move forward in leaps and bounds. But at the he

By Guest Contributor Matthew Rygus   Gathered together at the beautiful Ampersand building in downtown Calgary, attendees at the Energy Futures Lab 2022 Youth Innovation Jam devoted an entire Saturday to the energy transition. With the intention of driving equitable and sustainable solutions for our world’s energy issues, the event started off on a passionate note with a speech that literally brought tears to eyes. It set the tone for the rest of the event, making it clear th

How can Alberta’s economy continue to attract investment in a net-zero future? Over the last year, great minds in finance, policy, advocacy, and systems change have come together through the Energy Futures Policy Collaborative to answer this question, and Smart Prosperity Institute has been both a participant and an advisor on the process. One key finding has been that decades of extracting oil and gas has given Alberta the tools to excel in other sectors, if the right polici

In August of 2018 I had the good fortune to spend two weeks at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity for a Summer Writers Retreat. My project for that time was to write about the Energy Futures Lab. It was an intimidating program in the sense that I was there with people who were actual writers. I was one of only two non-fiction writers amidst a group of almost 20 very talented storytellers. At that time I had already made a shift in my role with the Energy Futures Lab to a

There’s never a bad time for the Energy Futures Lab to meet, but the gathering in February in Cochrane was particularly timely. In the wake of Teck Resources’s decision not to proceed with its Frontier Oil Sands project, and in the shadow of both a national conversation over Coastal GasLink and Indigenous rights and a growing provincial one about the merits of separation from Canada, the time was right to ask some tough questions. Things would get even crazier in the days tha

For as long as the EFL has existed, its work has been creating productive and solutions-oriented conversations about energy and climate as well as expanding the dimensions of what we like to call the “radical middle.” But with political polarization on the rise, and the dialogue around the energy transition becoming more binary by the day, we thought it was time to expand our reach — and our ambitions. We’ve heard from many of our Fellows over the years that they wanted to se

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

Innovating Alberta’s Energy Future Showcase explores ways Alberta will lead the transition to a low carbon future “There are so many amazing projects in the works that are going to help with the challenge of building the energy system of Alberta’s future. I’m excited to learn more about this groundbreaking work by the EFL Fellows.” – Andrew Ference CALGARY, April 11, 2017 /CNW/ – A diverse group of innovators and influencers will take the stage April 19 to share their ideas a

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.

2016 was a year of change and new realities. 2016 was a year of change and new realities. It ended with national and international developments that will impact Alberta’s energy system for years to come. These include uncertainty looming around the US elections, the continued Alberta recession, the ramifications of pipeline approvals, and the new regulations addressing climate change. Such complex and difficult topics likely made for some contentious Christmas dinner conversa

Navigating the interconnected web of issues surrounding energy, climate change and sustainable development is a complex task. Over the past year and a half, the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) has developed a platform for constructive dialogue and game-changing innovation. Through this process, we have identified five essential leadership capacities to succeed in this space. This November, join other leaders and innovators in the inaugural three-day EFL Leadership Bootcamp to hone t