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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 investigate his home’s various electrical needs. In his son’s room, shelves decked with plastic dinosaurs and superhero posters adorn the walls. A small boy by the name of Brooks sits in the corner with a laptop propped over his knees. Walter approaches and unplugs the computer cord, telling the boy to finish his homework by hand. The boy’s teacher, he assures, won’t mind. Little does Walter know that the cost of powering his son’s laptop is of little significance, especially when compared to the oversized electric heaters he’s had running since the furnace died. Still, these days he hopes to divert whatever savings he can. Walter is one of the 2.8 million Canadians living in energy poverty, paying a disproportionate amount of his earnings on his energy bills. The average Albertan family will spend $2,699/yr while an energy poor family will spend upwards of $3,333. What’s even more troubling is the fact that energy poor families tend to earn 53% less than the Provincial average, earning approximately $36,914 a year versus $77,926. This combination of higher than average bills and lower than average income has resulted in a state of affairs that requires additional support.   Unfortunately, Alberta has yet to remedy the situation, to create a solution that takes into account the uniqueness of each household, homeowner and sequence of events leading a person into this kind of experience. In this energy-intensive province, where average winters are both long and cold, there are grace periods during which utilities must wave the threat of disconnection. For example, electricity cannot be disconnected from October 15 to April 15 while natural gas cannot be disconnected from November 1 to April 15. But for payment-troubled customers, this is nothing more than a temporary delay, a band-aid if you will. Eventually, bills must be paid and for people like Walter, energy bills are mentally, physically and financially taxing. While spring, in many occasions, is considered noteworthy for its heavy rains and burgeoning tulips, the season also brings with it a rise in anxiety related to housing stability, as families experiencing energy poverty are forced to pay accumulated bills, thereby diverting money for rent or mortgages. Now consider Alberta’s population as it approaches 4.5 million residents. With 237,000 of these residents living in energy poverty, one might even be willing to consider this challenge a crisis and with it, the countless health and emotional side effects that accompany energy poor individuals. These side effects are wide ranging, and include everything from increased cardiovascular and pulmonary disease to lower birth weights among infants or kids who, on average, miss 15% more days of school. For Walter, living in energy poverty came as a shock. In fact, he doesn’t even consider himself “poor,” he just knows that paying his bills involves a struggle. For all his life, he’s worked hard. Been diligent. Independent. But things are much different now, far bleaker than the day he’d signed off on this house, with its sprawling front deck and bright yellow exterior. Back then he’d felt relieved, thinking he could, at last, claim independence. That all would be well. For the most part, it had been, at least until the day he fractured his spine and totaled his truck a few Octobers past. In the weeks to follow he’d spent the last of his savings on a used vehicle. Living in a rather remote location, he hadn’t much choice in the matter seeing as neither the grocery store nor his son’s school are within walking distance from his house. Shortly after this difficult purchase, he learned the meaning of “paycheck to paycheck,” though in Walter’s case, these checks came from the government and never did they allow him to save for even the smallest of home repairs. He received a lot of skepticism, too, about the money that is. From nosey neighbours and from others who viewed his existence as nothing more than “a burden on society.” Why couldn’t he afford to pay his bills? After all, people said the government was giving him a “handout.” At a time, he might have thought the same thing but now he’s running three electric heaters to make up for the broken furnace and paying his mortgage and purchasing groceries and toilet paper and all the while he’s got a child whose school is demanding fees for an upcoming field trip and whose backpack has a broken zipper and for whom Walter is still hoping to buy a birthday present in two weeks time. Meanwhile he hasn’t a spare $5000 to spend on upgrades like a high efficiency furnace that might reduce his energy bills, even if he were to get back $1500 of that as part of a rebate program. Nor can he assume any more debt, despite the province’s financing options for homeowners seeking to improve the efficiency of their houses. With poor credit and no upfront cash, neither of these options are of any benefit to someone like Walter. Alberta is one of the last provinces in Canada to support the one in five people struggling to pay their energy bills. Energy poor individuals are in dire need of support, but in saying this, it’s also important to note that not each home or homeowner needs the exact same kind of support. Looking, for example, at a home’s single pane windows or its crumbling insulation, the broken ducts or furnace or even the size of a home, you’ll find many secrets and stories. These revelations speak to an order of priority as to how one might spend money to increase the efficiency of a home and decrease the cost of bills. New showerheads and lightbulbs won’t help Walter. In fact, looking for solutions to energy poverty is very much akin to the way a doctor assesses their patients’ health. Imagine if patients were to sit down on a bed of crinkled paper and the doctor, upon entering the room and without looking at the patient, immediately claimed to have found a solution. In no world would this make good sense. Now apply this same thinking to a home. How can a program tend to any home or homeowner’s ills without first assessing the home or even taking the time to hear the homeowner’s unique story? Prescribing LED light bulbs to a home might therefore be compared to a doctor who blindly prescribes antidepressant medication to a patient suffering from a bladder infection. While taking the time with homeowners and their houses can help build a climate of trust between energy poor individuals and those offering solutions, it also provides insight into how one might best allocate a given number of dollars to reduce energy bills. If a home such as Walter’s is suffering from a broken furnace, installing new LED light bulbs or insulation may not result in the best return on investment. Taking the time to understand what is needed in each home is called a “diagnostic approach” and recognizes that there is no “one size fits all” solution to energy poverty or to improving energy inefficient homes. Walter’s story demonstrates the need for tailored solutions to energy poverty.   There is no better way to tackle such a broad challenge than by developing programs that ensure the needs of individual homeowners are both seen and heard. In doing so, we can build a climate of trust with payment-troubled customers by taking the time to connect with their stories and the homes in which they dwell. Furthermore, investments will experience stronger returns as dollars are allocated to a home’s most pressing needs. With support from Alberta innovators, government and utility companies, we can work together to create a more prosperous future for all Albertans. By collaborating as a province, we can create an energy poverty reduction program grounded in a diagnostic approach. In doing, we can create a future for Alberta in which no person is left behind. #Future_Economy #Culture_Shift #Regional_Pathways #Energy_Poverty #2020

In Lieu of Lightbulbs: A Look at Energy Poverty in Alberta

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 investigate his...

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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 temporary collapse in the broader economy will put Alberta’s community and business leaders to the toughest test they’ve ever faced — one that they cannot afford to fail. But there’s an old saying that breakdowns can create breakthroughs, and there are some very important ones that could happen in Alberta if the right decisions are made in this crisis. Investments today can help enable structural changes that unlock longer term opportunities that will be key to future prosperity. Yes, the oil and gas industry needs support to weather the storm that it’s been hit with. At the same time, efforts by the federal and provincial government can’t just focus on sustaining what Alberta already has. They should also be directed towards areas where it can build new industries and opportunities, along with the jobs and investment they could sustain. The most strategic investments of all will leverage Alberta’s legacy assets and resources to enable the economy of the future. Thankfully, a growing network of innovators and partner organizations have been collaborating for years through the Energy Futures Lab to develop a shared sense of the big opportunity areas in an energy system and economy that are fit for the future. Here are five key areas where governments looking to offer help today should be directing their attention. Hydrogen The hydrogen economy has been slow to take off around the world, and its promise has been touted for some time now. But its role in a low-carbon economy is becoming more clear with each passing day, and Alberta is well-positioned to capitalize on that by leveraging its many resources and capabilities. By combining its massive deposits of natural gas with carbon-capture technology, Alberta could be a leader in the production and export of so-called “Blue Hydrogen” — a fuel source that combines high energy intensity with low emissions. Better yet, it can be produced in Alberta at half the wholesale cost of diesel. As the University of Calgary’s David Layzell and Jessica Hof noted in a recent op-ed for the Edmonton Journal , the economic possibilities here are tantalizing. “If the province produced and exported hydrogen as a transportation fuel,” they wrote, “instead of selling an equivalent amount of crude oil and natural gas to the U.S. at discount prices, the Alberta economy could generate three to 10 times more economic activity.” And as they noted in a recent report for CESAR (Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research) and the Transition Accelerator, Alberta enjoys cost advantages over most other potential producers of hydrogen. Image courtesy of CESAR/The Transition Accelerator Yes, the market for the hydrogen economy has been slow to take shape, but that’s beginning to change. There were more than 50 strategies and targets put in place last year, from Germany to South Korea, to enable the development of hydrogen-based systems. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will not take place until 2021, but one thing we know for sure is that the Olympic flame will be powered by hydrogen for the first time in history. Hydrogen will also power the 6,000-unit Olympic Village, as well as the buses and cars that will move athletes between venues. According to Sam French, an editorial advisory board member with H2 View, “[The] Tokyo Olympics will provide the platform for hydrogen to pole vault into the mainstream. We’re on the cusp of a major energy transition. 2020 could very well be the year to shift public perception and unleash the global hydrogen market.” While electric vehicles are all the rage right now in many circles, hydrogen-powered ones are ready to make their move. The Toyota Mirai, which has been in production since 2014 and was recently revamped with a 30% larger driving range, is part of the Japanese automaker’s push to grow the market for fuel-cell vehicles. Then there’s the Nikola Motor Company, an American firm whose Badger is being touted as the most advanced zero emissions FCEV/BEV pick-up truck in the world. With 980 ft. lbs of torque, 906 peak horsepower, and 455 continuous horsepower, it won’t lack for muscle. Image courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy But where hydrogen really shines is in the heavy transport space, which accounts for a large and growing proportion of our overall emissions.As Layzell and Hof noted in their Edmonton Journal op-ed , in Alberta alone freight transportation accounts for 12 million tonnes of GHGs every year, along with 70 percent of diesel fuel demand. Replacing that with hydrogen would drive huge emissions reductions in the near term and even bigger economic opportunities down the proverbial road. That’s why it’s time for the federal and provincial governments to put their full weight behind ideas that increase the use of hydrogen in the heavy transport space. That includes everything from injecting hydrogen into existing diesel engine transport trucks, which would support the build out of the infrastructure that’s needed for a wider network of hydrogen fueling stations, to the Alberta Zero-Emissions Truck Electrification Collaboration Project, a $15 million, three-year joint venture between Emissions Reduction Alberta and the private sector. Hydrogen’s moment is upon us, and Alberta can play a major role in that — and benefit accordingly. Geothermal Energy Geothermal offers some of the lowest-hanging economic fruit available right now, given Alberta’s demonstrated capacity for drilling and developing sources of energy and its rich inventory of potential geothermal sites (which includes old oil and gas wells). If Alberta companies like Terrapin Geothermics and Borealis Geopower were empowered to build out 300 megawatts worth of geothermal electricity, along with an array of geothermally-heated district energy networks, it could spark a $3.6 billion economic boom — one that would employ welders, bit suppliers, construction workers, drilling crews, pumping equipment suppliers, and a host of other people and small businesses. The Pico Alto Geothermal Power Plant on the Island of Terceira in the Azores. Image courtesy of Terrapin Geothermics By drilling 186 new wells, it would support over $900 million in new drilling activity alone — a vital contribution to a sector that is being waylaid by collapsing oil prices and the resulting decline in the number of wells being drilled. And because geothermal wells are often larger and more complex than ones looking for hydrocarbons, they tend to last up to four times longer than conventional oil and gas drilling operations. Here, that would mean 7,500 total drilling days and 750 direct jobs, along with 5,625 indirect and induced drilling-related jobs. That’s not all. By unlocking 138 million gigajoules of low-carbon baseload heat, it could support district heating systems and meet industrial demand in a way that’s good for the environment and the economy. The creation of new district heating systems could support 10,000 jobs during the construction phase and 300 for their operation, along with 6,600 indirect jobs, and create an asset that industries like pulp and paper and agriculture can put to good use. Finally, if the 300 megawatts of waste thermal heat generated by the Alberta Industrial Heartland and Strathcona Industrial Area was captured, it could both reduce emissions and create value. At present, there’s approximately 7.5 million gigajoules of heat that’s vented into the atmosphere in those two places, a figure that represents $39 million in lost value. By building a 50 kilometre district heat network that connects these two areas, the province could activate $50 million in direct construction activity, support over 300 jobs, and create $92 million in total economic opportunity. The team at Borealis GeoPower Geothermal development is low-hanging fruit, and picking it will create jobs, reduce emissions, and support a sector of the economy that will otherwise suffer more with falling global oil prices. Lithium Another opportunity to leverage Alberta’s oil and gas assets to develop a new industry highly relevant for a low carbon emissions future is with lithium. This may strike some as ironic, given that lithium is a key component in the electric vehicles that some in the oil and gas industry see as a threat to their business. For those in the province’s burgeoning lithium sector, though, like e3 Metals and Summit Nanotech, EVs are a key driver of demand for their product — one that’s made right here in Alberta. And the more of those cars that get made, the more lithium will be needed to do it. Demand for lithium is expected to start outstripping supply as soon as 2025. Most of that supply currently comes from Australia, South America, and China, where it’s produced using environmentally dubious techniques like hard-rock mining or evaporation ponds. Here in Alberta, on the other hand, it’s already being produced as a byproduct in oil and gas drilling, especially in the brine that comes out of wells in the Leduc Reservoir region. All that’s needed is a willingness to extract the lithium and refine it — a process that would require the same kind of government support that helped lay the foundations for the oil sands industry a generation ago. Image courtesy of e3 Metals Corp Doing that could create hundreds of full-time jobs in the near term, and many more as the industry reduces its operating costs and starts to scale up. Eventually, Alberta could even play host to battery manufacturing plants, and the plethora of high-paying jobs and spin off economic opportunities that would create. Most importantly, it would give the province a valuable hedge against the possibility that electric vehicles really do take off in popularity, and put a dent in global demand for oil in the process. Bitumen Beyond Combustion It’s no secret that Alberta is sitting on hundreds of billions of barrels of bitumen, the thick and heavy deposits that have been getting steamed and mined out of the earth for decades. But the fact that we could be doing something other than putting that bitumen into barrels and sending it off to refineries? That very much remains a secret to many people, even right here in Alberta. To its credit, the Government of Alberta has been trying to change that. Through the “Bitumen Beyond Combustion” program that’s been championed by Alberta Innovates, it has invested in research that studies other economic opportunities and applications for bitumen. That research has already yielded some very interesting results, with potential uses ranging from asphalt and activated carbon to vanadium (for batteries) and carbon nanotubes. But the most exciting discovery is the possible applications in carbon fibre technology, something that is being supported by a $15 million Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge. Carbon fibre is ten-times stronger than steel, and composite materials that use it are being tested in a wide range of potential applications, from automobiles and the aerospace industry to concrete, plastics, and wood products. And while demand for crude oil and products refined from it like gasoline and diesel may start to decline in the near future, it is going nowhere but up for things like cars, homes, buildings, roads, and consumer goods. Bitumen-derived asphaltenes have two key advantages: a significantly smaller environmental impact than energy products that are combusted, and a dramatically lower supply cost ($0.50/kg versus polyacrylonitrile at $7–14/kg) than other potential sources of carbon fibre. Image courtesy of Corporate Knights While a bitumen-based carbon fibre industry is at least five years away from commercial production at meaningful scale, direct and meaningful government funding could help speed that along. It could also help grow the market and position Alberta as a leader in it. That market could be very, very big, given that it aligns perfectly with the lower-carbon emissions economy that’s being built as we speak. It can make cars lighter, and give them better mileage. It can make bridges more durable, and ensure they need to be replaced every 200 years rather than every 50. And it can make consumer products like hockey sticks, bicycles, and prosthetics more affordable. Best of all, it can do all of these things without creating significant downstream emissions — an obvious advantage over bitumen that gets combusted, where more than three-quarters of current emissions take place. Bitumen beyond combustion turns the carbon intensity of the oilsands from a liability into an asset. If the market reaches its potential, the value of every barrel in the ground in Alberta would increase by five to ten times — and a new industry could take root that might one day generate between $50 billion and $100 billion in annual revenue. Artificial Intelligence When it’s all said and done, artificial intelligence and machine learning may prove to be the most important economic developments of the 21st century. They are already transforming the way people work in an ever-expanding range of industries, from agriculture and oil and gas to tech and manufacturing, and their influence will only continue to grow. And much of that influence is coming right from our own backyard in Edmonton, where the University of Alberta and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute have long been leaders in this space. Their work, and their presence, helped attract Google’s Deep Mind to Edmonton, where it set up its first international research office in 2017. The power of AI is no secret to some of Alberta’s biggest companies, either. Suncor, for example, has made AI and machine learning a key part of its “Suncor 4.0” plan, which will see it partnering with Microsoft to bring new technologies to bear on its entire business. As Suncor’s Sandy Martin told the Financial Post, “If you think into the future — and wherever that future is — there isn’t an environment where any company survives without becoming digital.” Imperial Oil, meanwhile, recently announced a two-year agreement with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute that will see them work together to help the oil giant build out its in-house machine learning capabilities and apply them to a wide range of environmental and operational challenges. But Alberta’s advantage in this space is starting to slip, as other cities and countries compete to attract AI talent and capital. Where the University of Alberta used to rank in the top five among post-secondary institutions in the world for AI in terms of the number of publications and academic citations, it has slipped to 13th over the last five years. While universities around the world are investing billions of dollars in new facilities and infrastructure — MIT alone is investing $1 billion to create a new college that combines AI, machine learning, and data science with other academic disciplines — the University of Alberta is starting to fall behind. What’s needed is a renewed commitment by government to supporting the AI sector, both in words and deeds. That will mean reinstating the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Credit and increasing, rather than decreasing, budgets for entities like Alberta Innovates and the University of Alberta. Most importantly, it will mean treating new forms of economic activity in the province as a genuine opportunity rather than competition for incumbent industries. AI researchers and innovators thrive on solving problems in other sectors and systems, and Alberta’s energy sector is both rich in data and ripe with challenges that need to be addressed as it looks to strengthen its cost and carbon competitiveness and stay relevant in a shifting energy landscape. Alberta should be fertile ground for AI innovation, and government can play an important role in making that happen. Yes, It’s Time Albertans understand what it means to chase a shared economic goal, and they’ve been very successful in doing that over the last few decades. Now, it’s time to chase a new one: a future in which the term energy encompasses a wider range of possibilities, where we use our past strengths on new opportunities, and where these new opportunities aren’t impeded by old blind spots. It’s a future defined by economies of support, where one opportunity begets and actually advances another. That’s why these aren’t five separate tracks but rather interconnected pathways of opportunity and possibility. And that’s why they deserve to be supported as we all try to put the pieces of our lives, our businesses, our province, and our country back together. #Hydrogen #Geothermal_Energy #Lithium_from_Brine #Batteries #Bitumen_Beyond_Combustion #Advanced_Materials #CCUS #Artificial_Intelligence #Clean_Technologies #Culture_Shift #Future_Economy #2020

Five Big Ideas for Alberta’s Economic Recovery

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 temporary collapse in the...

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We are excited to announce our newest Fellows! The EFL has been steadily welcoming new Fellows since its inception in 2015. We now have over 65 Fellows from different organizations and communities to advance EFL initiatives and continue to shape the energy system the future requires of us. The EFL Fellows have demonstrated the power of shared leadership, co-creation, and experimentation. We are proud of our Fellows and are excited to announce this impressive group who will contribute alongside the current cohort : Aatif Baskanderi , QUEST Abbas Ali Beg , ATCO Brandon Holterman , Seven Generations Chelsea Donelon , TransAlta Corporation Dallas Dunn , TransAlta Corporation Hossein Shahandeh , Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) Jennifer D’Aoust , Energy Efficiency Alberta (EEA) Jordan Stein , City of Calgary Mark Chidwick , eDecisions Solutions Ltd. Petr Musilek , University of Alberta Steve Saddleback , Indian Resource Council Sydney Kjellander , Alberta Clean Technology Industry Alliance (ACTia) Yasmin Abraham , Empower Me Welcome to the Energy Futures Lab! #Culture_Shift #Fellowship #2020

Welcome Fellows 2020!

We are excited to announce our newest Fellows! The EFL has been steadily welcoming new Fellows since its inception in 2015. We now have over 65 Fellows from different organizations and communities to advance EFL initiatives and continue to shape the energy system the future requires of us. The EFL Fellows have demonstrated the power of shared leadership, co-creation, and experimentation. We are proud of our Fellows and are excited to announce this impressive group who will contribute...

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In March this year we were all shocked by the COVID pandemic, causing a massive disruption in our personal and professional lives. One of the areas that, in particular, was disrupted were in-person gatherings, such as workshops, conferences and meetings. For those, like myself, who work on challenges that require innovation and collaboration of diverse groups of people, this provoked a major question: How can we continue to create engaging online experiences that are effective in moving our work forward? Over the past 6 months, we have had the pleasure of delivering dozens of engaging online workshops, from 9 person team retreats to 30 people workshops to 500 people conferences. Recently, we have had people reach out with questions seeking advice on how they can create similar experiences, and we thought that we would take a moment to share some key lessons that we have learned in case they are useful for you. Before going further, a couple of quick things. As always, please consider your context as a filter. You know your situation best, so take ideas that make sense for you and feel free to leave those that do not. Also, I am not going to discuss the basics of good meeting and workshop design, e.g. clarifying your need and purpose, framing meaningful questions, know your audience, etc. These continue to apply in an online context. So, without further ado, here are a few lessons about effective and engaging online collaboration. Lessons #1: Shift Your Paradigm The biggest mistake I have seen when approaching online workshops is to take what has worked effectively in-person and simply try to mimic it online. This won’t work. Rather than lamenting that you can’t get together in person, consider the positives of coming together online and design around those. For example, it allows more frequent connection, it is easier to fit into schedules, and teams can come together from greater geographic distances. This may lead to different patterns of engagement from, for example, larger longer in-frequent in-person gatherings to smaller, purposeful and more frequent gatherings. Lessons #2: Think Harvest Before Technology One of the first questions that we get asked: what online collaboration technology should I use? We suggest that you actually start with another: What do I want to harvest from this gathering? Consider what information is most useful for you and your team to capture and leave with. For example, if you are hosting a gathering and simply want some live reaction to a few questions, then something with a low learning curve like Slido could work for you. If you are working with a team looking at a complex innovation challenge, then something more flexible like Miro could act as work mat to allow teams to capture and manipulate ideas. Lesson #3: Build in Movement into Activity and Breaks Although seemingly obvious, it is easy to get into designing an online workshop and forget that people are fatigued by sitting in front of their screens. One way to address this is to build in some movement every 45 minutes or so. For example, this could simply be a break with a little stretch or encouragement to step outside. Another option is to build in paired walks into your design, asking participants to call each other on their cellphones (yes, they make calls as well) to explore a question or idea together while taking a stroll. Another is a solo journaling exercise with pen and paper. Another is to ask people to sit outside in a quiet spot and dial in on their phone for part of the conversation. You get the idea. Have fun and be creative, people will enjoy the human experience. Lesson #4 Design with Interaction in Mind One important rule in effective facilitation is to engage people with sight, sound, and movement within five minutes of the start, and to ideally continue to do this for the rest of the workshop every 15 minutes or so. This is even more important online where our past experiences of long presentations cause many of us to put the webinar in the background while we attend to other things. Lesson #2 and #3 above offer some ideas to do this, and I also wanted to give a shout out to the humble chatbox, a simple feature in online meeting platforms like Zoom or Teams. The chatbox allows for interaction amongst participants in a way that is not possible in-person. For example, rather than a design where you have a 60 minute panel of presentations and then stop for 30 minutes of Q&A, consider a series of snappy back to back 5 – 7 minute presentations where participants are encouraged to pose questions in real time via the chatbox, and where other participants and the presenter (once finished) can also respond in real time. When one presenter stops and another starts to keep the energy high. We have seen high levels of engagement and positive feedback to this approach that is only possible online (remember: shift the paradigm). I hope that this has been useful for you. This list is certainly not exhaustive, so feel free to share some of your lessons, ideas and best practices in the comments section. Questions also welcome and best of luck with your online sessions! #Culture_Shift #Fellowship #2020 #Process_Design

Four Lessons for Engaging and Effective Online Collaboration

In March this year we were all shocked by the COVID pandemic, causing a massive disruption in our personal and professional lives. One of the areas that, in particular, was disrupted were in-person gatherings, such as workshops, conferences and meetings. For those, like myself, who work on challenges that require innovation and collaboration of diverse groups of people, this provoked a major question: How can we continue to create engaging online experiences that are effective in moving our...

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As governments and industry around the world work to jump-start their economies and restart their businesses without triggering a second wave of COVID-19 infections, they’re suddenly open to ambitious ideas and policies that were on a slow track before the virus struck. But in straining for the highest fruit on the tree, we need to be careful that we don’t miss one of the easiest pieces to pick: energy efficiency. It will deliver results — and deliver them quickly. Installation of commercially available high-efficient technology saves more money than it costs, reduces emissions, and supports the local economy, producing high-quality local jobs while keeping investment in the community. But for too long, we’ve overlooked this opportunity. The good news is that now is the perfect time for that to change. A 2019  study  by Navigant Guidehouse gives us a glimpse into the economic upside of an investment in energy efficiency in Alberta. Under a scenario where $150 million is invested in energy efficiency programming, the potential electricity savings in buildings, and non-oil and gas industrial facilities would be around 1% per year, a figure that’s similar to electrical efficiency targets found in other jurisdictions in Canada and the United States. And while 1% per year may not sound like very much, this represents $290 million in private sector investment and $1 billion per year in gross savings. Energy efficiency benefits are cumulative, which means by 2040 we’d see savings of 20% or more. That spending, a portion of which could come from an existing carbon levy, would also offset 900 megawatts of electricity system capacity, making it easier — and less expensive — to green the grid. Sustainable Projects Group staff reduce energy costs for their industrial and commercial clients by making their buildings and facilities run more efficiently. So if the math is this compelling, why haven’t we put it to work already? In part, it’s because we haven’t put a price on the value it creates. For example, no matter what your opinion may be on its effectiveness, exposure to the carbon pricing concept has led to an awareness within government and industries of an implied value of carbon as a commodity. Commodities can then be bought, sold, and traded, creating a market and revenue stream. Products like renewables and geothermal already have “value.” In other words, there is a mechanism in place that puts a price on the outputs of those projects and is generally accepted by business and financial institutions. We have yet to do that for the output of energy efficiency. If we did, it could be a game changer for business competitiveness in Alberta. That’s because it would help companies reduce their operating costs while increasing their resiliency to change and new challenges. This is important, given that our business sector was already facing competitiveness challenges from jurisdictions around the world before COVID hit. And while companies have recognized the value of incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into their corporate policies and business decisions, there are now (thanks to the economic impact of the virus) limited funds available for them to invest in energy efficiency opportunities. Without that additional investment, energy efficiency will remain unpicked fruit on the tree of opportunity. Building management companies such as Strategic Group use energy scans to identify opportunities to trim building operating costs while increasing comfort levels for tenants. CLEAResult staff supported this energy scan as part of the Strategic Energy Management program. Working to ensure this opportunity doesn’t get wasted is what inspired a partnership between the Energy Futures Lab and Energy Efficiency Alberta. This includes developing a rural small business pilot that makes energy efficiency improvements more accessible and financially viable. Working with municipalities to take the lead with an initiative that will offer Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. And a new study that demonstrates the effectiveness of energy efficiency as a way to manage increased demand for electricity (which is anticipated to skyrocket with the electrification of the transportation system). We’re not the only ones who see the opportunity that energy efficiency offers right now, either. The recently announced Task Force for a Resilient Recovery, which features a wide range of high-profile business and environmental leaders, also believes that energy efficiency should play a key role as we rebuild our economy and invest in “shovel-worthy” projects. Now, we need to act — and there are four key ways that we can enable an energy efficient economic recovery. First, we should explicitly recognize energy efficiency as a resource under the Electric and Gas Utilities Act. Second, we need to increase access to the Alberta emission offset market, and address administrative barriers to entry that currently exist for smaller projects. Third, we can incorporate energy efficiency into our utility system, and use it to offset or defer higher-cost generation, transmission and distribution alternatives. And finally, it’s time to support ESG reporting and give lending institutions and investors the ability to more fully value the benefits of energy efficiency in their risk assessments and valuations. Over 2,200 rooftop solar panels on Calgary’s IKEA store are offsetting approximately 744 tonnes of C02 emissions per year. None of us would have chosen this current set of economic circumstances. The human and economic cost has been staggering. But as the world grapples with how to safely restart economies and move into recovery, we have a unique opportunity in Alberta to finally capture the value that energy efficiency can create for our industries, businesses, and institutions. If we do that, we’ll be that much closer to the prosperous and sustainable future that everyone wants to reach. #Electricity #Clean_Technologies #NonWires_Solutions #Rooftop_Solar #Shovel_Ready_Projects #2020

Why Energy Efficiency is An Opportunity Alberta Can’t Afford to Pass Up

As governments and industry around the world work to jump-start their economies and restart their businesses without triggering a second wave of COVID-19 infections, they’re suddenly open to ambitious ideas and policies that were on a slow track before the virus struck. But in straining for the highest fruit on the tree, we need to be careful that we don’t miss one of the easiest pieces to pick: energy efficiency. It will deliver results — and deliver them quickly. Installation of...

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Dear Energy Futures Lab Fellows, Partners & Steering Committee Members, Recent events demonstrate the importance of acknowledging and actively addressing systemic racism. Knowing these traumas are a part of Canada’s social fabric, we invite our community to lean collectively into this grief, discomfort, and moment of witness. We encourage you to reflect on the importance of being open to new ways of being, thinking, and doing. We want to recognize the members of our community who are hurting right now. We deeply empathize with how this must be a very difficult time for many of you and our hearts go out to you and your loved ones. To those of us who are born into white privilege, how can we each learn from our discomfort during this time? How can we sit with it long enough to more viscerally hear, feel, see, and know how the system in which we exist within is inequitable and unjust? The Lab continuously references our Learning Journey in our collective and individual understanding of Canadian Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation. This is, ultimately, the discovery of the truth of how our societies are built upon systemic, generational injustice and racism. We believe this is an important moment in that journey to acknowledge the significance of this truth. The Energy Futures Lab is far from perfect, but as we come together to create the energy system the future requires, we will continue to build safer, inclusive spaces, to listen and to enhance our ability to elevate your voices. Sincerely, The Energy Futures Lab Team #Culture_Shift #Reconciliation_Journey #EFL_Vision #EFL_Platform #2020

An Open Letter to the EFL Community

Dear Energy Futures Lab Fellows, Partners & Steering Committee Members, Recent events demonstrate the importance of acknowledging and actively addressing systemic racism. Knowing these traumas are a part of Canada’s social fabric, we invite our community to lean collectively into this grief, discomfort, and moment of witness. We encourage you to reflect on the importance of being open to new ways of being, thinking, and doing. We want to recognize the members of our community who are hurting...

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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 part-time contract, having passed the mantle of leadership for the Lab to Alison Cretney at the outset of 2018 and set out for what would be the better part of a year in Costa Rica with my family. The idea with the retreat was that I would use the time to document the origin story of the EFL and some of the insights gathered along the way, perhaps one day to be compiled into a book. I mostly used the time well and did good work. A couple priority “EFL 2.0” fundraising proposals got in the way of the main objective, but time dedicated to writing those was surely well spent!  I also produced some decent early drafts of the first few chapters and an outline for the rest of the book. It didn’t get any further than that, other than that one of the “vignette” stories I wrote at that time – about two of the original EFL Fellows Daniel Clarke and Alison Thompson – was eventually published in Corporate Knights magazine. I was reminded of that work as I sat down to write this newsletter article on the occasion of yet another shift in my relationship with the Lab, to more of a participant role, as I step into a new position as Vice President, Sustainability and Citizenship with The Co-operators. The EFL was a good idea back in 2014, and it is an indispensable platform for change now. That is being made more obvious with every passing week, as the narratives and initiatives cultivated in the Lab make their way into the mainstream of public consciousness and the EFL’s profile and influence grows. My words of encouragement at this moment can be boiled down to this statement that a wise mentor, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, once shared with me: “Hug the framework.” By that, I am referring to the science and systems-thinking framework that underpins the work of the EFL and its host organization The Natural Step. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) and the insights it offers about what the future requires of us was instrumental for those of us involved in the early days of the EFL. Its implications were at the root of our belief that common ground could actually be found amidst all the dissension and polarization on energy and climate issues. And though it doesn’t often show up visibly in the day to day interactions of the Lab, every now and then its continued relevance as a lens for understanding the complexity we face is made obvious again. Most recently for me it was when Michael Moore’s Planet of the Humans movie was released. That film and the various reactions it caused highlighted for me the importance of backcasting from sustainability principles as a way to manage trade-offs (instead of getting stuck in lose/lose conundrums), leveraging the assets and resources around us for a better future (instead of lamenting where it all came from), and most importantly engaging constructively with one another (instead of demonizing people and groups with different interests). If you haven’t spent time with the content of the FSSD recently – and I suspect most of us haven’t – I encourage you to revisit some of the core learning materials of The Natural Step and Sustainability Illustrated . Perhaps after having done that, you’ll even rewatch Planet of the Humans with a new lens to reconsider its content. Or maybe even more productively, you’ll use that lens to consider what’s happening around us – to recognize patterns, to spot opportunities for connections. That’s what I’ve been doing for five years in various roles with the EFL. It’s what I’ll be continuing to do in the EFL going forward in my new capacity and also in my new role with The Co-operators, where that very lens is built into the organization’s core approach to business. We’re on a roll with the EFL. The world needs what we’re doing more than ever, so let’s lean in, hug the framework, and then reach out even more broadly than we have so far to be positive agents of hope and change. #Culture_Shift #Radical_Middle #Framework_for_Strategic_Sustainable_Development #Backcasting #System_Sensing #Fellowship #2020

Chad Park reflects on his time with the EFL

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 part-time...

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A New Reality Our world is shifting towards a low-carbon economy and the Canadian and global energy marketplace is changing. Many will debate the pace of this shift, but one thing we are certain of is that the shift is happening. Much of this is driven by increasing concerns about our changing climate. A recent study by Canadian federal scientists and academics has warned that Canada’s climate is warming more rapidly than the global average. These shifts and uncertainties have left many communities in Alberta rethinking their future and exploring how to create resilient communities, building on their human capital while taking advantage of new economic opportunities. EFL Accelerator: Community Resilience The recent EFL Accelerator on Community Resilience centered around the question: How can communities enhance long-term resilience in light of the shifting energy landscape? EFL Accelerators focus on advancing initiatives to help Alberta achieve the EFL vision created by the Lab’s diverse Fellows and partners. The Accelerator brought together community leaders, funders, strategists, First Nations, and advisors – even four youth from Pincher Creek who brought their perspective on energy transition and hopes to learn how to shape the future of their community. “What’s great is that I was able to collaborate with people from different backgrounds: education, energy, business…you get different ideas about different topics. It is cool to see out of the box thinking,” said one of the youth Ayden Pitcher from Matthew Halton High School in Pincher Creek, Alberta This EFL Accelerator advanced four initiatives: Blockchain to Transact Carbon Offsets from Aggregated Micro-Solar Pilot , led by EFL Fellow and CEO of ReWatt Power Prageet Nibber Energy Efficiency Program for Small Rural Businesses Pilot , led by former EFL Fellow and Director of Energy Efficiency Alberta Financing Programs Justin Smith SouthWest Alberta Experiential Learning Lab (SWELL) Concept , led by EFL Fellow and Innovation Architect at Ventus Development Services James Van Leeuwen Louis Bull Renewable Schools Pilot , led by E FL Fellow and Executive Director of Iron and Earth Lliam Hildebrand More about these initiatives can be found below. Energy Transition in Southwest Alberta “Learning about the socio-economic impact predicted by the loss of the Shell gas plant near Pincher Creek hit home for me,” said Diandra (DJ) Bruised Head – one the new EFL Fellows and also Climate Change Coordinator at Blood Tribe Land Management. DJ participated in the SWELL Concept initiative, led by EFL Fellow James Van Leeuwen at the Southwest Alberta Sustainable Community Initiative , which is focused on energy systems, and building capacity to design and develop energy systems the future will require. At the Accelerator, SWELL’s initiative explored the implications of closing Shell Canada’s Waterton Gas Complex, which has been a major economic generator for southwest Alberta since the early 1960s. “My community is within the vicinity of the gas-plant; we can see the lights of the plant from the Blood Reserve some nights. While the socio-economic impact assessment was for Pincher Creek, it will impact Southern Alberta as a whole. My community prides itself on maintaining oil and gas as a prime industry, and there’s gratefulness in that statement: we’ve had the opportunity to elevate our Tribe economically and been successful in this area. The future challenges our historical success; however, the global economy for oil and gas is shifting, and is calling for investment into renewables.” In 2018, the Blood Tribe was awarded a contract in partnership with Électricité de France (EDF) to invest in windmills and contribute to the community’s economy, but DJ recognizes that “there is a space to fill to bring in community buy-in for renewable energies.” She acknowledges that in order to develop renewables, the community would need visible projects and continued engagement to build capacity within the community. New Digital Innovations and Community Resilience Another initiative focused on how a successful pilot might contribute towards creating a more interconnected, accessible, and adaptable electricity system in the province. The pilot used blockchain technology to verify and aggregate emission reductions across solar sites from rural Albertan micro-producers. While it demonstrated additional value to small producers in the form of emission credits, perhaps more importantly, it also showcased the potential of the technology and the value of different stakeholders agreeing on a shared architecture. Participants explored what is needed to deploy this and other newer technologies in support of increased transparency and accessibility in Alberta’s power system. Re-thinking Work, Re-training Workforce The main premise of the Louis Bull Solar Renewable Schools Pilot, led by Fellow Lliam Hildebrand at Iron & Earth, is to assist un- (or under) employed oil and gas workers and Indigenous community members in expanding their skill sets to include renewable energy projects. Nick Clark, Director at Utilities, Network and Partners, a Calgary-based organization affiliated with the Olds Institute also participated at the Iron & Earth session and shared a different perspective on community-based projects. He strongly encouraged community leaders to look at market-based approaches. “What you need to possibly think of is, if subsidies and government grants disappear, if the programs are not sustainable on their own, how do you achieve your objectives?” said Nick. The session focused on the potential for Iron and Earth to apply a social enterprise approach to its work, with experts from the TRICO Changemakers and ATB Financial. Ranice Macyk, Senior Manager, Entrepreneur Capital Business & Agriculture at ATB Financial participated and brought a wealth of knowledge on financing options for community-based organizations: “I loved to see some of the projects that everyone is working on and I think it is a great idea to bring individuals from different backgrounds and industries together to help solve problems,” said Ranice. Each session brought a different initiative, a different story, and a variety of experts to help initiatives advance at this EFL Accelerator. Moving forward Many Alberta community leaders and organizations are aware of the implications of energy transition and how it will continue to impact community resilience and the province’s future workforce. The EFL will continue to work with interested stakeholders to develop these initiatives. If you are interested in getting involved with the EFL, please check out the opportunities here . For those in rural Alberta, consider participating in an Energy Futures Roadshow near your community. Roadshows typically include a series of workshops over a few days with community members, businesses, governments, schools, economic and community developers and the general public, followed by support from the Energy Futures Lab team to enable action. So far, we have delivered four Roadshows in Alberta communities, namely Crowsnest Pass, Hinton, Devon, and Grande Prairie. These Roadshows have been praised and attracted a diversity of community and government leaders. Join us at Energy Futures Roadshows in Banff, Drayton Valley, and Red Deer in fall 2019. Stay tuned! #Regional_Pathways #Community_Resilience #Community_Resilience_Accelerator #EFL_Vision #Fellowship #Energy_Efficiency_Program_for_Small_Rural_Businesses_Pilot #SouthWest_Alberta_Experiential_Learning_Lab_SWELL_Concept #Louis_Bull_Renewable_Schools_Pilot #Crowsnest_Pass_Roadshow #Hinton_Roadshow #Devon_Roadshow #Grande_Prairie_Roadshow

Accelerating Community Resilience in light of Energy Transition

A New Reality Our world is shifting towards a low-carbon economy and the Canadian and global energy marketplace is changing. Many will debate the pace of this shift, but one thing we are certain of is that the shift is happening. Much of this is driven by increasing concerns about our changing climate. A recent study by Canadian federal scientists and academics has warned that Canada’s climate is warming more rapidly than the global average. These shifts and uncertainties have left many...

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“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 held its first public online event, drawing over 250 participants from across Canada. The event was based on an article co-written by the Lab’s Managing Director and Lead Animator, Alison Cretney and Chad Park, titled Five Big Ideas for Alberta’s Economic Recovery . The article was incredibly well-received, so the Lab hosted an event, further exploring each of the five ideas. Since these are only five of many Alberta-based initiatives, the EFL will also launch a virtual “Big Ideas” series to continue highlighting work being done within the Lab. Our presenters offered a dynamic range of voices and expertise, covering topics relating to geothermal energy, lithium, hydrogen, artificial intelligence and alternative uses for bitumen. Below, you will find recordings from each session. In listening, we invite you to contemplate the role each of these fields will play in not only recovering Alberta’s economy, but in building a new vision of the future. Learn more about our presenters: Sean Collins, Alison Thompson, Bryan Helfenbaum, Liz Lappin, Maggie Hanna, Hossein Shahandeh and Greg Bennett. Near the end of the event we concluded by asking our audience: What actions do you feel you can take to help facilitate this energy transition? We were flooded with thoughtful and constructive answers as participants expressed a desire to adopt new technologies, seek out learning or engage researchers in developing scalable pilot projects. So as we continue responding to challenges arising as a result of COVID-19, we also remember that breakdowns really can create breakthroughs. In these times of crisis, we look for moments of opportunity. #Future_Economy #Culture_Shift #Clean_Technologies #Virtual_Conference_Five_Big_Idea_for_Albertas_Economic_Recovery #2020

Virtual Conference: Five Big Ideas for Alberta’s Economic Recovery

“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 held its first...

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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 that followed, as oil prices collapsed under the weight of a renewed price war between OPEC, Russia, and the US shale industry, and the provincial government scrambled to react. Winston Churchill famously said that you should never let a good crisis go to waste, and this one seems perfectly aligned with the EFL’s vision and purpose. If the EFL can’t ask the tough questions about our energy future now, when can we? That said, nobody should expect any easy answers to emerge — and they certainly didn’t from the session in Cochrane. That’s why, instead of a tidy summary of the clear-cut answers that were generated during that day, we’re left with a new list of questions that need to be grappled with. These questions get at the heart of our energy dialogue in Alberta, and they may be useful in both moving past partisanship and building a more productive dialogue in this province. If there’s a group that can ask them, it’s the EFL. First, though, there were some points of agreement to build on. Most importantly, there was consensus that polarization sucks — a belief that’s built into the Lab’s DNA. And there was agreement that it’s not enough to dismiss or decry polarization, given that there are people and organizations who both benefit from polarization and routinely seek to exploit and expand it. The challenge for the Lab is figuring out a way to operate in that environment. Second, there was agreement that partisanship is a problem. Some thought it was a problem worth looking past, or trying to work around, while others believed it was better to engage directly with the system. But everyone agreed that it was a force to be reckoned with — and that the failure to do so would inevitably get in the way of the EFL’s mission. And third, there was a consensus that language matters, and that the words we use and the way we frame things publicly has a major impact on how they’re understood and experienced by others. Using the word “transformation”, for example, in place of “transition” can make the concept more approachable for many people. The Alberta Narratives Project covered this subject in much greater detail, and it’s a resource that anyone who is in the habit of discussing energy and climate issues should keep handy at all times. There was also agreement that we need to find common ground on this issue, but what that common ground looks like is up for debate. After all, where and what that common ground is shifts based on the questions in play and the people involved. Some have common ground on economic security, for example, while others find it on health outcomes. And while concepts like “human flourishing” might sound and seem like they have universal appeal, even they can be problematic. After all, one person’s human flourishing may involve the oil and gas industry being more active and prosperous — and that directly impacts another’s concept of flourishing in a negative way. The search for common values is similarly challenging. After all, if efforts to find shared values activate our tribal identities as either progressives or conservatives, are they a pathway to a more productive conversation or a trigger that pushes people back to a partisan one? More than anything, what the day in Cochrane revealed is that for all the technical and wonkish aspects of this conversation, it’s really much deeper than that. It’s about our identities, our histories, and how those sit in the world, as well as the tensions those all create. As with many things in Alberta, the real value is beneath the surface. What do those tensions look like? Here are five that came to the fore. Tension 1: Fear vs. Opportunity Does the EFL speak to people on the basis of their fears — be it for their own economic interests or the futures of their children and grandchildren — or their sense of the opportunities that may lie ahead in the energy transition? Tension 2: Complexity vs. Simplicity Should the EFL lean into the complexity of the conversation, and focus on the nitty gritty of policy proposals and technical solutions, or try to engage people on the basis of broader themes and ideas? Tension 3: Needs vs. Wants Is it better to focus on aspirational targets for the future, or near-term concerns about employment and stability? This dovetails with number one, but it has its own dimensions that are worth exploring. Tension 4: Disrupt vs. Destroy Some people felt that it was important to work with what we have, and improve the system in which our choices are being made. But others said that the status quo is the problem — and that the only way to fix it is to break it. Tension 5: Today vs. Tomorrow Building a consensus around the kind of future we want to build isn’t that difficult, especially when you stay at the level of broad and positive objectives that don’t require compromise. After all, who wouldn’t want to live in a future defined by a robust economy, a thriving environment, and fairness and justice for all? Deciding how we get there, and who should pay the highest price along the way, is where it gets messy. Sadly, there’s no way to resolve these conflicts in a way that leaves everyone satisfied and secure. That’s why we need to embrace the messiness that’s inherent here, and try to encourage others to join us in this space. As one fellow noted, there’s a literal physical disconnect between progressives and conservatives, and nowhere is that more apparent than when it comes to conversations about energy and climate. They worship in different places, socialize in different places, and often get educated in different places. The EFL is one of the few places where they regularly come together and share competing ideas. One of the goals going forward should be to recreate this space in as many places and spaces as possible. It won’t automatically resolve those five tensions, but it would certainly go a long way towards understanding them better. #Culture_Shift #Fellowship #Radical_Middle #EFL_Platform #2020

Navigating Tensions at the EFL

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 that followed, as...

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Since its inception, the EFL has had the intention to both include Indigenous people, partners, and perspectives as well as acknowledge and address, in its work, issues related to Indigenous people’s relationships to the energy system. As we step along our Truth and Reconciliation journey, we are embracing a knowing that this aspect of our work needs to be improved and deepened if we truly intend for the Lab to represent what is possible for today’s energy system in Alberta, and beyond. There have been many lessons along the way. Lessons that, I believe, pull us deeper into grasping the gravity of this journey, as opposed to lessons that form a clear sequence of steps or actions to take. But even while holding the highest intention for our work – to be genuinely collaborative and co-creative – we are learning and uncovering how the biases and beliefs we are personally and collectively rooted in ultimately shape the limits of our intentions. Our journey is more than tallying which efforts and initiatives have succeeded or not, but is the task of unlearning the limitations of what a Western mindset requires for success so that we can unlock true potential and innovation for a co-created future. And it’s far from “easy” or “solvable”. But what we are learning – or maybe remembering – is how to be in relationship again. Relationship with ourselves, each other, our communities, the land, and even re-consider our relationship with wealth, energy, and power. This journey has evolved into much more than we ever could have expected, which shouldn’t be (but, unfortunately is) surprising. What has been the most profound for me has been to witness the little moments when people are able to find common ground between a Western and Indigenous perspective. Sometimes it will be in the context of an initiative or social challenge that a small group is convening around, but often these moments are ignited within each person as something clicks and connects their head to their heart. And maybe, I would offer today, this simple bridging of a logical, task-oriented, goal-driven mindset with a holistic, compassionate, heart-first energy is the north star for our journey. With the north star being an invitation and a guide, not a mandate or responsibility. It then becomes the opportunity for each of us to recognize and respond to the importance of moving in this direction – and then choosing to, in our own time and own way. As a Lab, a large part of our collective commitment is to ongoing learning and adaptation. This work is not excluded from that dynamic. We certainly aren’t perfect, but we continuously strive to step into an awareness of our own personal work in tandem with respectfully strengthening the Lab’s capacity for authentically working in, across and between Western and Indigenous worldviews. 2020 promises to generate a lot of momentum for our Truth and Reconciliation journey. We have some exceptional new Fellows, new partners, and we truly believe that our hearts and minds are opening in ways that are both innovative and necessary for the future that is required of us. Looking forward to seeing you along the way. #Indigenous_Knowledge_Insight_and_Leadership #Culture_Shift #2020 #Reconciliation_Journey

Our Truth and Reconciliation Journey

Since its inception, the EFL has had the intention to both include Indigenous people, partners, and perspectives as well as acknowledge and address, in its work, issues related to Indigenous people’s relationships to the energy system. As we step along our Truth and Reconciliation journey, we are embracing a knowing that this aspect of our work needs to be improved and deepened if we truly intend for the Lab to represent what is possible for today’s energy system in Alberta, and beyond. There...

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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 see us engage much more with the public, share our stories, and what we value with them. We will be asking you and many Canadians to share what your energy future looks like to showcase the diversity of perspectives around energy. We want to exchange, listen, and have rich conversations about our energy future. And that’s exactly what will happen in 2020. The campaign, which encourages Albertans and Canadians to think about their energy future and the role they can play in it, will kick off with a video that frames the conversation in a productive way. It was edited by our own Fellow Rio Mitchell, and features some of the EFL’s own members sharing their vision of the energy future. But that video is just the beginning. It will be featured on a new website, and supported by Twitter and Facebook accounts dedicated to expanding its reach. That website will also feature new content about the technologies and ideas we explore in the Lab, and how they’ll create opportunities for us all to build a better future. Over the course of the spring and summer, we hope to take this campaign and the materials it will create on the road, whether to conferences and symposiums or town-hall style meetings with the public. We’ll be talking about it with the media, and we may ask you to do some talking of your own. And we’ll be doing everything we can to influence the national conversation and shift it in a more positive and productive direction. How can you help? First, by sharing the campaign and its content on your own social channels, and within your circles of friends, family, and colleagues. Encourage the people you know and love to think about what their energy future will look like, and talk about it with one another. Stay tuned for further developments as we build out the My Energy Future campaign. #Radical_Middle #Culture_Shift #My_Energy_Future_Campaign #2020

Introducing the “My Energy Future” Campaign

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 see us engage much...

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We are thrilled to share a number of connections to the recently announced Clean50 awards. David Hughes, President & CEO of The Natural Step Canada, host organization for the Energy Futures Lab, has been named as a member of Canada’s Clean50 for 2020. David played an instrumental role in co-founding the Circular Economy Leadership Coalition . He helped galvanize momentum and mobilize leading businesses, academics and NGOs towards achieving a prosperous, sustainable, closed-loop, zero-waste circular economy in Canada. Fellow Julia-Maria Becker from the Pembina Institute has won the Clean50 top project award for her role in leading The Alberta Narratives Project . In the current divisive and polarized environment around energy issues, this project involved more than 20 organizations and funders, and convened important climate and energy conversations with Albertans from all backgrounds. Fellow Alison Thompson, CEO of Borealis GeoPower, also won a top project award for her unique work on Geothermal Energy District between Kitselas Geothermal & Borealis GeoPower. This project takes an original approach to geothermal energy development for base-load electricity and renewable heating/cooling alternatives. According to Geothermal Energy District, this project not only opens avenues to ethical mining by dissolving rare minerals and metals in geothermal brines, but also each 15 MW of geothermal electricity developed is predicted to eliminate 70 kt of CO2 emissions each year. Every year, Canada’s Clean50 recognizes Canada’s leaders in sustainability for their contributions. There are 16 categories in the Clean50 Individual awards or “the Clean50” which go beyond numerous industries, academia, and various levels of government, and are based on accomplishments delivered over the prior two years. The EFL was awarded a Clean50 Project award in 2018 and we are proud of the continuous connections to this program through EFL Fellows and The Natural Step President & CEO David Hughes. “I’m deeply honoured and want to acknowledge that this wouldn’t have been possible without the leadership, expertise and investment of the many partners who make up this coalition,” says David. Meet the other 47 leaders on the Clean50 list! #Culture_Shift #Fellowship #Sustainaville_Geo_Park #2019

EFL Connections to Canada’s Clean50 in 2020

We are thrilled to share a number of connections to the recently announced Clean50 awards. David Hughes, President & CEO of The Natural Step Canada, host organization for the Energy Futures Lab, has been named as a member of Canada’s Clean50 for 2020. David played an instrumental role in co-founding the Circular Economy Leadership Coalition . He helped galvanize momentum and mobilize leading businesses, academics and NGOs towards achieving a prosperous, sustainable, closed-loop, zero-waste...

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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 Lab. For instance, current and emerging technologies for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) can play an important role in reducing carbon emissions in Alberta. We recently held a CCUS Workshop exploring how to increase momentum and political will while addressing barriers that slow its uptake, such as regulatory uncertainty, funding challenges, and public acceptance. We need to re-imagine carbon and re-imagine waste to make a substantial reduction in GHG emissions. At the end of this month, at SPARK 2019 , the EFL will host a session on how to frame a carbon positive conversation while The Natural Step Canada’s President & CEO David Hughes will moderate the panel Leveraging Canada’s Rich Natural Resources to Lead in a Global Circular Economy, exploring the linkages between re-imagining carbon waste and the concept of circularity. There are many ways that EFL Fellows and partners are rethinking the role of oil and gas in a low carbon economy. For example, the work at Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) has been instrumental in developing a pathway for hydrogen produced from natural gas as a promising zero-emissions fuel. The Alberta Zero-Emissions Truck Electrification Collaboration (AZETEC), received $15 million earlier this year to pilot two hydrogen-fueled trucks that will move freight year-round between Edmonton and Calgary. The EFL is supporting these exciting developments by developing an engaged network of key players and enablers towards building a hydrogen economy in Alberta. In order to enable transition, we also need to look at advanced technologies and their intersection with climate and environmental solutions. Since 2018, the RBC Foundation has supported our Energy.AI series to create pilots and projects that employ machine learning and artificial intelligence applications for reducing GHG emissions and addressing climate change. We recently held our Energy.AI 3 Accelerator , which advanced three initiatives around increasing efficiency in oil and gas operations through applying AI; improving power system data quality to enable AI applications; and exploring how advanced technologies can help depolarize public discourse on energy. There are many solutions to our environmental and climate challenges in Alberta. We are working to advance high-value initiatives that not only cut emissions, but can even be carbon positive solutions. We need to leverage legacy infrastructure, rethink carbon and waste, while making significant efficiency advancements in our current energy system. Learn more about EFL initiatives here . #Future_Economy #Clean_Technologies #Regional_Pathways #Fellowship #CCUS_Workshop #CCUS #Building_a_Hydrogen_Economy_in_Alberta #Hydrogen #Energy_AI #2019

Reimagining Carbon

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 Lab. For instance,...

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Chad Park’s remarks from the EFL 2.0 launch reception on February 12, 2019 Over the last month something notable happened here in Alberta that not everyone may have heard about. On December 11th, the Canyon Creek Hydro Development Act received Royal Assent, enabling the Alberta Utilities Commission to issue its final approval for the Canyon Creek Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Project near Hinton. Alberta can take the bull by the horns and adapt to these changes, get in front of them and reap the benefits that will flow. But only if we look forward and come together on the same level of scale and ambition. This time we will have to do it with a lot more speed. Canyon Creek is notable in that is the first hydro project to be approved by the Alberta Legislature in ten years as well as both the first ever pumped hydro and first ever large-scale energy storage project to be approved in Alberta. It makes use of an abandoned coal mine and incorporates two small off-stream water reservoirs that will be connected by a pipeline with pumps, turbines and generating equipment near the bottom reservoir in a powerhouse. The project will have the capacity to store 75MW for 37 hours of full capacity generation, helping the Alberta grid accommodate increasing production from renewable energy like large-scale wind. This project was led by one of the Fellows of the Energy Futures Lab, Kipp Horton, the President and CEO of Windriver Power Corporation. It exemplifies much of what the EFL stands for and many of the narratives we talked about at the EFL Summit. Perhaps even more notable is that the Canyon Creek Hydro Development Act was passed unanimously in the Alberta legislature. In this polarized environment. Months away from an election call. Congratulations to Kipp and his team and also kudos to the elected officials who saw the importance and opportunity in enabling this project. We need more of this. What it shows us – and what is shown by the attendance at this event by leaders from all four major parties in the Alberta Legislature at the EFL Summit – is that getting it right on these issues is of utmost importance for the future of Alberta. And it IS possible to find common ground and get things done. When the EFL was first conceived a few years ago, it was borne of a belief that despite the highly polarized nature of the public debates surrounding energy issues, there was a story from Alberta that wasn’t being heard and that Albertans would rise to the occasion if given the right opportunity. There were plenty of Albertans from diverse backgrounds – including the oil and gas industry – who not only believed in the science of climate change but who were actively working on solutions. Innovators. Entrepreneurs. Intrapraneurs. Technology experts and social innovators. People who would roll up their sleeves and work together to accelerate progress. These were not “either or” kind of people – pitting one group against another in a “with us or against us” attitude. These were “and” people – who knew we could leverage the many energy assets and talent in this province to become leaders in shaping the energy future. We found them. And it turns out, there are a LOT these kinds of people here. More than we thought. Three years since the first meeting of EFL Fellows, we know that there is a lot more to be done, but we can say that the EFL has exceeded our expectations. pumped hydro energy from an abandoned coal mine, geothermal from oil wells, technology to turn carbon dioxide into useful materials, a start-up IT company partnering with a rural energy coop to enable solar energy solutions on farms, An Albertan renewable energy company building projects in B.C. with First Nations as partners These are the kinds of initiatives being run by the participants in the EFL. The EFL feels like a snowball. From 30 to 60 Fellows From 5 to 16 Convening Partners From 0 to 10 Exemplar Initiatives From almost zero trust to something like 90% trust among Fellows And more than 5000 people engaged through engagements like the EFL Leadership Bootcamp and the Newtonian Shift energy transition simulation game, with the support of the Alberta Real Estate Foundation. Forty years ago, Alberta came together with industry and government to bring the oil sands dream into reality, for the economic benefit of all of Canada. The world is changing and some people are saying it is going to leave Alberta behind. The people in this room are not among them. Alberta can take the bull by the horns and adapt to these changes, get in front of them and reap the benefits that will flow. But only if we look forward and come together on the same level of scale and ambition. This time we will have to do it with a lot more speed. The EFL can be a key platform for making this happen. Thank you to all of you for being a part of the story so far and for joining us here today. The snowball is rolling. Let’s keep it going. #Energy_Storage_Pumped_Hydro #Repurposing_Coal_Mines #Pumped_Hydro #Geothermal_From_Oil_Wells #CCUS #Supporting_Albertas_Carbon_Utilization_Innovators #Commercial_Solar #Blockchain_for_Rural_Community_Power_Aggregation #Community_Solar #Geothermal_Energy #Advanced_Materials #Indigenous_Knowledge_Insight_and_Leadership #Leadership_Bootcamp #The_Newtonian_Shift #2019

The snowball is rolling. Let’s keep it going.

Chad Park’s remarks from the EFL 2.0 launch reception on February 12, 2019 Over the last month something notable happened here in Alberta that not everyone may have heard about. On December 11th, the Canyon Creek Hydro Development Act received Royal Assent, enabling the Alberta Utilities Commission to issue its final approval for the Canyon Creek Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Project near Hinton. Alberta can take the bull by the horns and adapt to these changes, get in front of them and reap...

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Since January 2019, the EFL has welcomed 25 new Fellows and 19 Convening Partners to advance EFL initiatives and launch EFL 2.0, in which we deepen our work in Alberta and explore how to extend the Lab’s lessons and learning at a national level. With the recent report that Canada’s climate is warming at roughly twice the rate of the rest of the world, more than ever, our country requires bold and collaborative leadership. The EFL has created a neutral platform to overcome divisiveness and to find common ground among divergent groups. We invited leading organizations in different sectors to join EFL 2.0. They responded and delivered. EFL 2.0 is proudly supported by the following Convening Partners : Alberta Innovates Alberta Real Estate Foundation Canada West Foundation Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) Capital Power Cenovus Energy Emissions Reduction Alberta Energy Efficiency Alberta Government of Alberta Indigenous Clean Energy JWN Energy Pembina Institute QUEST RBC Foundation Shell Canada Student Energy Suncor Energy Foundation The Natural Step Canada The leaders of these organizations have signed this inspiring joint letter confirming their support for EFL 2.0 and their commitment to helping advance the important initiatives stewarded by the EFL Fellowship. The EFL Fellows have demonstrated the power of shared leadership, co-creation, and experimentation. We are proud of our Fellows and are excited to announce this impressive group of 25 new Fellows who will contribute alongside the current cohort : Ariane Bourassa , Cenovus Energy Barend Dronkers , Energy Efficiency Alberta Brenda Barritt , Stettler Learning Centre Bryan Helfenbaum , Alberta Innovates Devin Beaton , Nutana Power Diandra Bruised Head , Blood Tribe Land Management Gareth Thomson , Alberta Council for Environmental Education Gordon Giles , Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Inc. Greg Bennett , AIRIA Cloud, Google Development Group YYC, Atheria Heather Lemon , Alberta Energy Regulator Jaeson Cardiff , CleanO2 Carbon Capture Technologies Jamie Bonham , NEI Investments Jeff Bell , Alberta Economic Development and Trade Jeff Zimmer , ATCO Gas JT Steenkamp , Shell Canada Julia-Maria Becker , Pembina Institute Julie Bunker , QUEST Marla Orenstein , Canada West Foundation Megan Lohmann , Community Energy Association Nneka Bowen , Royal Bank of Canada Olivia Reshetylo , Student Energy Peter Koning , ConocoPhillips Canada Saeed Nusri , ATB Financial Sandra Odendahl , CMC Research Institutes Shelagh Hayes , Western Economic Diversification Canada Welcome to the Energy Futures Lab! #Culture_Shift #Fellowship #EFL_Vision #EFL_Platform #2019

Demonstrating Leadership: New Fellows and Partners Join the EFL

Since January 2019, the EFL has welcomed 25 new Fellows and 19 Convening Partners to advance EFL initiatives and launch EFL 2.0, in which we deepen our work in Alberta and explore how to extend the Lab’s lessons and learning at a national level. With the recent report that Canada’s climate is warming at roughly twice the rate of the rest of the world, more than ever, our country requires bold and collaborative leadership. The EFL has created a neutral platform to overcome divisiveness and to...

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The Energy Futures Lab is an Alberta-based, multi-interest collaboration designed to accelerate the development of a “fit for the future” energy system. It brings together a cohort of influential leaders to address current and emerging energy challenges, and generate opportunities for new initiatives and collaborations. CALGARY, February 11, 2019 – A diverse group of energy innovators and partner organizations will gather at the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) Summit in Calgary on February 12 to officially launch EFL 2.0. The EFL Summit will explore the leadership role that the EFL can play in helping accelerate progress in the context of the urgent need for action and the growing polarization on energy issues in Alberta and Canada. Building on successes and learning from its first phase, EFL 2.0 will see oil and gas executives, cleantech and renewable energy companies, First Nations leaders, environmental groups, academics, and others working together to: Continue to identify, develop and pressure-test innovative solutions for accelerating the transition to the energy system the future requires of us; Strengthen the capacity of business and government to adopt and support such innovative solutions; Align a growing community of leaders and their organizations behind a bold and transformative vision for the future of energy in Canada and the possible transition pathways to achieve it; Inspire and share stories that help depolarize the public conversation about energy in Canada and accelerate progress toward a shared vision. “The energy and climate change debates of the past decade have left Canada polarized in a myriad of ways,” said The Natural Step Canada’s President & CEO David Hughes. “Meanwhile, much of the rest of the world – especially its technology innovators – is racing to a new energy future that will reshape politics, economics, and cultural dynamics around the world. It is a time that requires bold and collaborative leadership.” “Since its launch in 2015, the EFL has proven a unique forum for overcoming divisiveness and finding productive common ground among diverse stakeholders,” says Alison Cretney, EFL Managing Director. “With the launch of EFL 2.0, we are doubling down on this approach and planning to deepen and extend its impact. The Convening Partners of EFL 2.0 are committed to supporting EFL Fellows as they develop exemplar initiatives in response to the question: how can we leverage our leadership position in today’s energy system to create the energy system that the future requires of us? The EFL partners, Fellows, Steering Committee and broader community will mark the transition from EFL 1.0 to EFL 2.0 at the first EFL Summit , which will include a dialogue with federal Natural Resources Minister The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi. Minister Sohi and several Energy Futures Lab partners will be available for a short media scrum at 9:00 a.m. following the Minister’s remarks. Media is invited to the Minister’s dialogue starting at 8:30 a.m at the University of Calgary’s Red & White Club, North end McMahon Stadium. EFL 2.0 is proudly supported by the following Convening Partners: Alberta Innovates Alberta Real Estate Foundation Canada West Foundation Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) Capital Power Cenovus Energy Emissions Reduction Alberta Energy Efficiency Alberta Government of Alberta Indigenous Clean Energy JWN Energy Pembina Institute QUEST RBC Foundation Shell Canada Student Energy Suncor Energy Foundation The Natural Step Canada #Culture_Shift #Fellowship #EFL_Platform #2019

MEDIA RELEASE: Multi-Interest Show of Support as Energy Industry Leaders and Innovators Come Together to Launch Energy Futures Lab 2.0

The Energy Futures Lab is an Alberta-based, multi-interest collaboration designed to accelerate the development of a “fit for the future” energy system. It brings together a cohort of influential leaders to address current and emerging energy challenges, and generate opportunities for new initiatives and collaborations. CALGARY, February 11, 2019 – A diverse group of energy innovators and partner organizations will gather at the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) Summit in Calgary on February 12 to...

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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 overall. Even more impressive is the progress the EFL made in four areas: advancing exemplar initiatives ; sharing EFL insight to influence policy; setting up for EFL 2.0; and galvanizing leadership in Alberta and Canada to provide leadership to overcome the growing polarization on energy issues. Advancing EFL Initiatives Significant progress was made on the dozen exemplar initiatives in the EFL portfolio of projects in 2018. Here are a few highlights: What began as an EFL initiative exploring how Canada’s airlines and airports could become a world leader in low-carbon air travel evolved into the WestJet Aviation Biofuel Challenge, delivered by Alberta Innovates. The challenge seeks existing or emerging technology combined with lower cost Alberta biomass to develop a viable, economic solution for producing aviation biofuel in the province. We also launched and piloted the Energy Futures Roadshow in two Albertan communities: Crowsnest Pass and Hinton. The Roadshow brings the combined knowledge, skills, and network of the EFL to support communities in exploring and understanding their unique challenges and opportunities in the face of energy transition. Each Roadshow sparked collaborative initiatives among community members, while developing relationships and a learning cohort across Roadshow communities. We look forward to expanding the Energy Futures Roadshow to four more Albertan communities in 2019. The EFL Accelerators were launched in 2018 as a new way of engaging the EFL community in accelerating the Lab’s exemplar initiatives alongside EFL Fellows. We attracted impressive expertise and talent to the first EFL Accelerator on Mobility in a Low Carbon Future, where we explored specific challenges facing innovators in order to unlock possibilities in four innovation areas: Biojet, Lithium, Hydrogen, and Smart Mobility. The Growing an Alberta Lithium Industry initiative applies oil and gas expertise to unlock the potential of Alberta’s significant lithium resource from oilfield wastewater. As a fundamental component in the batteries of electronics, electric vehicles, and large-scale energy storage, lithium is anticipated to be a key material in a low-carbon economy. The EFL Accelerator session identified what is required to accelerate the current pace of sustainable lithium resource development in order to position Alberta for maximum success in the global market in the coming years. Through the Energy.AI Workshop, we not only explored the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to enable Alberta thrive in a competitive low-carbon world, but we also succeeded in engaging the AI community to help find AI solutions to low-carbon and energy transition challenges. Learn about the Energy.AI Workshop findings and stay tuned for more accelerators that will advance EFL actions on community resilience, artificial intelligence, and Indigenous leadership in the energy sector. Helping Policy-makers Backcast from a Desired Future In 2018, the EFL also engaged with two critical stakeholders in the energy ecosystem – the Government of Alberta (GoA) and Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) – to help them take advantage of the diversity and expertise in the EFL Fellowship to test or refine policy ideas. For the GoA, the EFL provided technical feedback to the Department of Energy for its work in developing a strategic outlook for the energy sector – aimed to enable Alberta’s transition to a low-emission economy while ensuring responsible energy development. With ERA, the EFL applied the backcasting method to review the agency’s Technology Roadmap , which guides ERA’s investment strategy for its cleantech portfolio. In both strategic reviews, the EFL and its Fellows were seen as an important source of strategic thinking because of their diverse areas of expertise and the shared “future lens” that they have created together with the EFL vision . Setting up for EFL 2.0 We started the year without knowing for sure that the EFL would continue past 2018. We ended the year with a plan, funding, and partnerships to not only continue but deepen and extend our work together over the next three years (2019-2021). This will include changes in the program design to be able to engage more partners and people in the innovation work of the Lab, and exploring how EFL lessons and learnings might be used to extend our impact in other parts of Canada. To advance EFL 2.0’s ambitions, we have launched a third recruitment wave to attract exceptional leaders and influencers to join the EFL Fellowship . We will officially celebrate EFL 1.0 and mark the shift to EFL 2.0 at the first EFL Summit on Feb 12. At the Summit, we will explore the EFL’s leadership role in accelerating progress in the context of the urgent need for action and the growing polarization on energy issues in Alberta and Canada. While there is a lot to celebrate and be grateful for in 2018, there is no question that 2019 will be a challenging year. Provincial and federal elections mean heightened polarization and greater uncertainty. Regardless, the EFL is committed to continue working with all actors, governments, businesses, and communities to accelerate progress in building the energy system that the future requires of us. We ask you to join us in finding pragmatic and meaningful solutions that respond to the EFL 2.0 convening question: how can we leverage our leadership position in today’s energy system to create the energy system the future requires of us? Spread the word on the EFL Fellowship and apply before Jan 31. See you at the EFL Summit! #Future_Economy #Culture_Shift #Clean_Technologies #Regional_Pathways #Fellowship #Community_Resilience #Alberta_Energy_Narrative_Hearts_and_Minds #ERA_Technology_Roadmap #Bio_Jet #Hinton_Roadshow #Crowsnest_Pass_Roadshow #2019 #Lithium_from_Brine #Sustainable_Aviation_Fuels #Electric_Vehicles #EFL_Vision #Lithium_on_Tap #Energy_AI #Artificial_Intelligence #EFL_Platform #Backcasting

The EFL in 2019, and beyond

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 overall. Even...

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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 COP meetings in Poland about the urgency to act on climate change and the need to “transition from fossil fuels”. There are a few things I wish I would have said and some questions I wish I would have been asked. I thought I’d write some reflections down in a blog post while they’re still fresh. The main message that I was trying to convey in the interview was that Alberta can be part of the solution on climate and energy issues. Furthermore, the oil and gas industry, where so much capital and talent is currently invested in this province, should be seen as a partner in the development and deployment of climate change solutions. I know that this message is counter-intuitive to most Canadians outside Alberta. And it is self-evident to the many Albertan innovators working in the energy sector. Therein lies one of the core difficulties we have in communicating on this topic. But if we share the view that this issue is urgent, then it follows that we need all hands on deck in the search for solutions. Yes, Alberta needs to diversify its economy both to ensure it is better prepared for a low-carbon emissions global economy and to reduce exposure to the ups and downs in the market of a global commodity over which we have no control. This is happening. Edmonton is becoming a world leading city for innovation in artificial intelligence and in healthcare technologies. Calgary is home to more than 200 renewable energy companies and 100 energy storage companies. Unfortunately, the provincial government’s continued over-reliance on revenues from the oil and gas resource masks the progress that is being made on diversification in the economy overall. Yes, we need to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy in Canada. Alberta knows this very well. Alberta has become a hotbed for renewable energy entrepreneurs and investors, as the province phases out coal and develops 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to fulfill its plan to generate 30% of its electricity from renewables by 2030, all of which is expected to generate at least $10.5 billion in new investment by 2030 and 7,000 new jobs, according to Calgary Economic Development. And yet, even if Alberta were to transition to 100% use of renewable energy for electricity, this would not replace the share of Alberta’s economic prosperity currently derived from exporting oil and gas. Our use of renewable energy as consumers is a quite different thing than our export of fossil fuels as producers. The public conversation about transition seems to largely miss this point, suggesting that it is a simple matter of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy, as it might be in places where the main questions about energy are largely about consumption. I find it interesting that a message about the need for a transition from fossil fuels, such as the one coming out of COP this week, is often interpreted by many in Canada as a need to transition from the production of fossil fuels, for example in Alberta – with very little emphasis on the need to transition from the consumption or combustion of fossil fuels across the broader economy. This is not to say that Alberta doesn’t have important work to do in better preparing its economy for the future and to make its hydrocarbons cost and carbon competitive. But we must also face the fact that if customers of Alberta’s oil don’t get it from Alberta, that will not lead them to avoid buying oil at all. They will just get it from somewhere else. So curtailing Alberta’s oil and gas production does not address the biggest part of the problem. But stifling the Alberta economy does mean that all Canadians miss out on the economic resources that could be put to use in support of the transition, not to mention the cultural benefit of truly being unified as a country in how we tackle the challenge of climate change. On the other hand, in their frustration about the current situation, Albertans also can’t pretend that we can go back to how things were. The global transition to a low-carbon emissions economy is under way and accelerating. The world’s entrepreneurs and investors know there is big money to be made by those who bring solutions to market. The costs of new technologies are coming down as the scale of their deployment increases, and this is bound to continue. When we frame the issues in “with us or against us” terms about our oil and gas industry, without acknowledging the scale of the challenge we share together as global citizens, we prolong the mistaken view of Alberta being part of the problem instead of part of the solution. We make the situation worse. On top of accelerating the adoption of renewable energy and diversifying the economy in Alberta, let’s also look at major opportunities that exist because of Alberta’s oil and gas sector. Let’s radically reduce emissions in the production of Alberta’s oil and gas, and in so doing leverage the oil and gas industry as development ground for exportable clean technologies and services. Let’s get full value for the fossil fuels we are producing, and invest a big portion of the proceeds into the transition – as they have done in some other oil producing jurisdictions such as Norway. In my view, the polarization on these issues has gotten us into a position where unfortunately a rational discussion is very difficult. It sometimes seems as if our only choices are to phase out the production of fossil fuels as quickly as possible or to completely avoid the challenge of climate change. The difficulty in having a rational discussion on these issues makes me all the more grateful for the work of The Natural Step Canada and, in particular, the Energy Futures Lab (EFL), where people with widely differing points of view have entered gracefully into the uncomfortable, unpopular, and necessary space of the radical middle . The products of that openness and grace so far include tangible exemplar initiatives generated through collaboration among uncommon partners and a shared 2050 vision for Alberta’s energy system. Staying hopeful about the future is critical, and the EFL offers legitimate grounds for hope for anyone willing to pay attention. In the interview today, I would have rather been asked the question, “how can Alberta (and Canada) thrive as we and the rest of the world transition to a low-carbon emissions economy?” I would have answered that we can do so by working together to creatively develop solutions, and that that is far better than pitting us against one another. For inspiration on what that could look like, I might have shared the story of Ian MacGregor, the Albertan energy entrepreneur who recently inspired EFL Fellows with the scale of his vision and investments and the straightforward common sense that appears to guide his work. If I’d had time at the end of the interview, I would have loved to have taken the rare opportunity for an Albertan to address a B.C. audience directly on these issues. I would have been tempted to ask the the good citizens of B.C. not to shun a neighbour for being producers of a product that you yourselves consume. 🙂 But instead of a defensive comment like that and in the spirit of coming together, I would have simply said to the people of B.C. that your neighbour can also be your partner in building the energy system that the future requires of us. #Future_Economy #Culture_Shift #Clean_Technologies #Regional_Pathways #Fellowship #EFL_Platform #EFL_Vision #Artificial_Intelligence #Batteries #Provincial_Policy #Sustainable_Finance #Radical_Middle #2018

Reflections on an Interview with the CBC

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 COP meetings in...

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The increasing drive towards a low-carbon future is demanding that we look differently at the way we live, eat, commute, and transport goods. Easy, convenient, and relatively affordable mobility is embedded in our lifestyle, which makes changes at scale challenging. This has opened the space for ideas across a range of innovation priorities, including 1) implementing new technologies and supporting cleaner fuels; 2) providing low-carbon mobility options; and 3) applying regulations such as market mechanisms to encourage shifts in consumer behaviours. So how does low-carbon mobility translate into actual actions, especially given that 68% of world population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050 1 ? And, perhaps more importantly, what does this mean for Alberta and our future? In Alberta, there have been several organizations engaged in work that explore these questions. For example: The Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) at the University of Calgary researches Canada’s freight sector and suggests that in order to achieve the 2030 and 2050 commitments made in the 2015 Paris climate change accord, “transformative – even disruptive – changes are required in the fueling of freight transport in this country and across North America 2 .” CESAR believes that the future of freight in Alberta will depend heavily on the use of hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks 3. WestJet is another organization looking at low-carbon mobility and recently launched the WestJet Aviation Biofuel Challenge along with Alberta Innovates. This challenge intends to use/develop existing or emerging technologies, using lower cost Alberta biomass, coupled with other complimentary efficient technologies, to scale-up Alberta’s capacity as a leader in the aviation biofuel industry. Earlier this year, a Calgary-based company, 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. Lithium is an important component in electrical vehicles, and “petro-lithium” represents an innovative approach to leveraging Alberta’s traditional energy assets as the basis for continued strength in a low-carbon future. These organizations are all part of the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) community. On November 20th, 2018 the EFL will convene an EFL Accelerator on Mobility in a Low Carbon Future in collaboration with Alberta Energy. This one-day workshop will examine Alberta’s positioning in relation to the movement of people and goods in a low-carbon future. EFL Accelerators explore unique opportunities with a select group of innovators from government, industry, civil society, and academia that can address challenges and prepare Alberta to thrive in the future. If you would like to participate in the upcoming EFL Accelerator on Mobility in a Low-Carbon Future, please contact Pong Leung at pleung@naturalstep.ca . ___________________ 1 UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html 2 CESAR: http://www.cesarnet.ca/blog/canada-s-freight-sector-addressing-climate-change-face-disruptive-change 3 Truck News: https://www.trucknews.com/sustainability/research-points-to-hydrogen-electric-trucks-as-best-option-for-the-future/1003086938/ #Clean_Technologies #Regional_Pathways #Bio_Fuel #Hydrogen #Bio_Jet #Sustainable_Aviation_Fuels_Roadmap #Electric_Vehicles #Batteries #Lithium_from_Brine #Lithium_on_Tap #2018 #Accelerator_on_Mobility_in_a_Low_Carbon_Future

Mobility in a Low-Carbon Future

The increasing drive towards a low-carbon future is demanding that we look differently at the way we live, eat, commute, and transport goods. Easy, convenient, and relatively affordable mobility is embedded in our lifestyle, which makes changes at scale challenging. This has opened the space for ideas across a range of innovation priorities, including 1) implementing new technologies and supporting cleaner fuels; 2) providing low-carbon mobility options; and 3) applying regulations such as...

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We gratefully acknowledge the original territories of the Siksikáwa, Îyârhe Nakodabi, and Tsuut’ina Dene, of Mohkínstsisakápiyoyis, Wincheesh-pah, Kootsisáw, or the colonized lands which many now refer to as Calgary, where the Energy Futures Lab is headquartered. These Lands are also home to members of the Métis Nation of Alberta under the Otipemisiwak Métis Government — District 4 & 5, whose peoples have deep relationships with the land. This reminds all of us to walk in a good way and remember our commitments to Indigenous Peoples.

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