Sustainability expert, Pong Leung introduces backcasting, a key tool for the Energy Futures Lab Backcasting gives you a chance to look through the front windshield seeing clearly the road ahead, as well as the tools to imagine the best possible destination where you could arrive and thrive. It is about imagining a very clear future not constrained by the limits of your past experience. This creates a sense of freedom and unleashes new ideas, and new possibilities. – Pong Leun

Reflections from our Energy Futures Lab Fellows Distorted market prices have occurred due to past governments picking winners overs losers versus ensuring an even playing field – a fair competition.” – Alison Thompson What does the future of Alberta’s energy system look like to Alison Thompson, Managing Director of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) and Energy Futures Lab (EFL) Fellow? “Renewable, when possible, and not only measured by today’s market prices,

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, i

The article “Innovation is key to new economy,” originally appeared in the Edmonton Journal on Tuesday January 26, 2016. Let’s step beyond the polarized and polarizing narratives that in recent years have kept us stuck in camps and inhibited our culture of innovation. This is not about good guys and bad guys, dirty versus clean industries, people who support oil and gas and people who do not. Building a resilient economy for a low-carbon future will require the resources and

I’m pretty sure that “failing forward” has officially reached buzzword status, and if you’re like me you might be a little tired of hearing about the importance of failing. That being said, when what we’re trying to do is change massive, complex systems like how energy works in Alberta, it’s not very likely that perfect solutions – whether they be a products, services, or business models – are going to spring fully formed from our heads on the first try. So what if we could s

Reflections from our Energy Futures Lab Fellows “The energy system the future requires is efficient and reliable, diversified in sources and integrated in system, and of low carbon intensity.” – John Zhou Change is underway in Alberta. Within the province, energy sector innovators are working to collectively innovate, collaborate and act on transitioning towards a sustainable and resilient energy future. With a PhD in geology and seven US patents under his belt, John has spen

Image source: Student Energy Hi there, I’m Steve Williams and I am an Information Designer for the Energy Futures Lab. I’m working on how the EFL uses data – how we can use existing data for decision making, how we can visualize and make sense of the data we have, and how we can develop new data and insights into Alberta’s energy system. There is a significant amount of information about the Alberta energy system online, in databases, in academic journals, on government websi

Reflections on COP 21 Outcomes COP 21 is over and the world has agreed to “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” “Clean energy has passed the tipping point, and its gone mainstream” – The National, CBC Sure, we could focus on the lack of legally binding emissions reductions, but what is important about the Paris Agreemen

This past Sunday I attended briefings and the big announcement about Alberta’s new Climate Leadership Plan. Many friends of the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) were also in attendance – Fellows, partners, and Steering Committee members. I was asked on a number of occasions, “what does this mean for the Energy Futures Lab?” The question arises because the Energy Futures Lab was originally conceived almost two years ago in a vastly different context. The kinds of policy announcements

The Energy Futures Lab (EFL) has announced the names of the Energy Futures Lab Fellows – 40 influencers from industry, NGOs, government, academia, and First Nations communities across Alberta, who will work together over the next three years to help accelerate the transition to a sustainable, resilient energy system. These leaders have come together because they believe that how we tackle the interconnected issues of climate change, energy security and sustainable developmen

We have come together to convene this important initiative because we believe that how we tackle the interconnected issues of climate change, energy security and sustainable development today is key to Alberta’s future prosperity. The issues are so complex that addressing them is not possible unless we are working across traditional organizational and sectoral boundaries. Underlying our collaboration is a shared conviction that Alberta’s strengths and assets in today’s energy

The desire to shape the future, not just cope with it or react to it, is deeply embedded in Alberta’s culture. Alberta has long been at the forefront of discovery and innovation of game-changing solutions in the energy field. Alberta’s work on technological innovations is key to resiliency of our future energy system, but it is not enough. To unlock the full range of energy system transition opportunities, Alberta will have to employ seemingly unconventional strategies and pa

How do you accelerate innovation to an unnaturally high pace? According to Bill Gates, in a provocatively titled We Need an Energy Miracle piece last week from the Atlantic, society needs to ramp up innovation in order to accelerate “a transition to new forms of energy” and avoid running a global 3 or 4 degree climate experiment. His interview raised fascinating questions about the mechanics of how we might go about attempting to drive “innovation ‘at an unnaturally high pac

A blog from Energy Futures Lab Fellow Alex Nnamonu As Alberta begins grappling with the energy challenges of the 21st century, Alex Nnamonu, Executive Director of Major Legislative Project and Strategic Planning at Alberta Municipal Affairs is thinking beyond technology, beyond numbers… “A desirable future is one which is not dominated by “all-or-nothing” thinking, but one which delivers win-win outcomes. Energy Futures Lab is an opportunity, an unusual opportunity for people