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Alberta has set an formidable goal to be a carbon-neutral — web zero — economic system by 2050. Attending COP28, I had the chance to share a number of the net-zero power analysis occurring on the College of Alberta and deepen our international collaborations. As a world chief in growing net-zero power options, UA has a key function to play in making certain a sustainable and affluent future for Alberta’s power sector.
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Alberta emits way more greenhouse gasoline emissions than some other province in Canada (virtually double that of Ontario), primarily pushed by industrial emissions, together with oil and gasoline manufacturing. Attending to web zero by 2050 goes to require a concerted effort. In shut collaboration with trade and authorities, and constructing on a long time of management in power analysis, UA has launched a serious new analysis challenge — Canadian Internet Zero Power Options (CANZES) — to develop the applied sciences Alberta might want to obtain web zero by 2050. We’re bringing collectively a number of the high researchers on the planet to deal with one of many best challenges going through the globe.
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Attaining web zero would require growing new applied sciences and refining present ones to carry them to full-scale implementation. It’s going to require main investments in analysis and billions of {dollars} of latest infrastructure. There isn’t a magic bullet — we’d like a multi-faceted and multidisciplinary strategy.
We’re specializing in 5 vital areas that shall be important for Alberta to attain web zero by 2050: carbon seize, utilization and storage (CCUS), hydrogen, vital minerals, resilient and sensible electrical grids, and land and water reclamation. In all 5 areas, we’ll leverage our experience in synthetic intelligence and quantum science.
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With two multibillion-dollar initiatives already underway (Air Merchandise and Dow Chemical), Alberta is residence to a number of the largest CCUS initiatives on the planet. Nevertheless, extra analysis shall be wanted to show financial feasibility at scale and technological maturity for a lot of CCUS methods. UA analysis is advancing point-source and direct air seize, together with geological storage. It contains CO2 utilization (utilizing CO2 as uncooked supplies for different merchandise), which shall be important for growing next-generation applied sciences that scale back the price of CCUS. We’re additionally inspecting methods to construct public acceptance and belief, that are vital to the success of CCUS initiatives in Alberta and throughout Canada.
CCUS analysis may also assist Alberta capitalize on producing and utilizing clear hydrogen. When burned for power, hydrogen emits solely water, which implies it may be a serious supply of unpolluted power. UA analysis is advancing the entire spectrum of hydrogen analysis, together with manufacturing, transportation, storage and utilization. Combining CCUS with Alberta’s huge pure gasoline sources, together with Alberta’s quickly rising renewables (wind and photo voltaic), Alberta could be a main international producer of unpolluted hydrogen. With a worldwide hydrogen market estimated to be price greater than $2.5 trillion by 2050, the potential for Alberta is gigantic.
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As extra transportation strikes to electrical autos, the world urgently wants extra vital minerals, together with lithium, obligatory for battery manufacturing. UA analysis is exploring find out how to extract lithium from oilfield brines in Alberta, an alternative choice to conventional sources that’s present in exhausting rocks all over the world, is expensive to mine and environmentally intrusive.
Electrical autos additionally imply enormous new calls for on {the electrical} grid. Renewable power techniques equivalent to photo voltaic and wind additionally create challenges in making certain these power techniques are appropriate with at present’s electrical grid. UA analysis is main the way in which in growing resilient and sensible electrical grids for clear power and zero-emissions autos.
Land and water reclamation are key challenges in growing sustainable power techniques. UA analysis is on the forefront of efficient, built-in and low-energy therapy methods for municipal and industrial wastewater.
In 1944, UA researcher Dr. Karl Clark developed the know-how to separate bitumen from sand, resulting in the primary business improvement of the oilsands in 1967. Through the years, UA analysis has continued to assist Alberta’s thriving power sector. That assist has by no means been extra essential at present.
Merely imposing caps on carbon won’t create a sustainable emissions discount plan. As a substitute, we are able to solely realistically meet our emissions targets by growing the applied sciences that may make web zero a actuality whereas sustaining entry to inexpensive and dependable power. CANZES shall be an essential a part of the trail ahead to the advantage of all Albertans and past.
Invoice Flanagan is president of the College of Alberta.
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