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Alberta

Taking Action Against Climate Change with Emissions Reduction Alberta

Published

5 years ago

5 minute read

As the climate conversation continues to expand in the public space, ambitious goals for reducing emissions are being communicated at regional and international levels. The burning of fossil fuels has substantially contributed to the build up of greenhouse gases (GHG) in our atmosphere, resulting in the climate changes currently impacting major industries, ecosystems, weather patterns, natural resources and biodiversity around the world. According to Climate Change in Alberta, “97% of climate scientists now agree that human activity is responsible for most temperature increases over the past 250 years.”

In Alberta, over 50% of GHG emissions are the result of “industrial, manufacturing and construction activity, as well as producing the electricity we consume … the remainder comes from heating our homes and businesses, transportation and from agriculture, forestry and municipal waste” (1). As a part of a multi-level provincial strategy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Alberta, the government currently partners with various organizations and funds a number of programs designed to accelerate emissions reduction initiatives and technology development. 

One Alberta organization that has played a significant role in furthering emissions reduction in our province for more than a decade is Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), based in Edmonton. 

Established in 2009, Emissions Reduction Alberta “takes action on climate change and supports economic growth by investing in the pilot, demonstration and deployment of clean technology solutions that reduce GHGs, lower costs and attract investment, and create jobs in Alberta.” For more than 10 years, ERA has been facilitating Alberta’s transition to a low carbon economy by supporting and furthering the most innovative approaches to emissions reduction.

“Alberta’s industries have ambitious goals around emissions reductions that can’t be achieved without deploying new technology,” says Steve MacDonald, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta, “Our goal is to identify and accelerate the innovation Alberta needs to grow the economy and cut emissions.” 


Steve MacDonald – CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta 

ERA’s funding comes from the carbon price paid by large final emitters in Alberta. With this funding, ERA operates a challenge structure that calls innovative companies to respond to pertinent industry challenges with original solutions. “Challenges are always well over-subscribed,” says MacDonald. “This gives us the ability to really select the best of the best and get a good understanding of the range of ideas that are out there.” 

To date, ERA has invested $607 million in the development of 183 unique projects dedicated to reducing emissions across various industries. ERA funding is leveraged and for every dollar invested by the organization, another $6.40 is invested by industry, innovators and other project funders. As a result, the total value of these projects is over $4 billion. ERA estimates this will lead to a total reduction of 34,800,000 tonnes of CO2e by the year 2030.

In October 2019, ERA announced their Natural Gas Challenge, a campaign committed to improving cost competitiveness and reducing emissions in Alberta’s natural gas sector. On July 21, 2020, ERA pledged $58.4 million to the 20 winning projects, valued at over $155 million. According to ERA, these projects will create 760 new jobs and, “if successful, these technology innovations will lead to cumulative GHG reductions of almost one million tonnes of CO2e by 2030 – equivalent to the GHG emissions from 750,000 passenger vehicles driven for one year.” 

Moving forward, the ERA expects to see the first round of Expression of Interest for their latest $40 million Food, Farming and Forestry Challenge by August 27, 2020. In the meantime, the organization will continue to focus on aiding Alberta’s economic recovery through diversification and job creation, and the pursuit of innovation. 

“We are supporting the actions required to help Alberta achieve its economic and environmental goals,” says MacDonald. “Our investments are making a real difference; one that is fundamental to Alberta’s future success. From incremental change to game-changers, we are developing the solutions Alberta and the world need.”

To learn more about Emissions Reduction Alberta, visit https://eralberta.ca. 

 

For more stories, visit Todayville Calgary.

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Alberta

Pierre Poilievre will run to represent Camrose, Stettler, Hanna, and Drumheller in Central Alberta by-election

Published on May 3, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat as an MP so Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat Monday, could attempt to re-join Parliament.

Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat in a riding that saw the Conservatives easily defeat the Liberals by 46,020 votes in this past Monday’s election. Poilievre had lost his seat to his Liberal rival, a seat which he held for decades, which many saw as putting his role as leader of the party in jeopardy.

Kurek has represented the riding since 2019 and said about his decision, “It has been a tremendous honor to serve the good people of Battle River—Crowfoot.”

“After much discussion with my wife Danielle, I have decided to step aside for this Parliamentary session to allow our Conservative Party Leader to run here in a by-election,” he added.

Newly elected Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney used his first post-election press conference to say his government will unleash a “new economy” that will further “deepen” the nation’s ties to the world.

He also promised that he would “trigger” a by-election at once, saying there would be “no games” trying to prohibit Poilievre to run and win a seat in a safe Conservative riding.

Poilievre, in a statement posted to X Friday, said that it was with “humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek’s offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament.”

 

“Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of Parliament shows his commitment to change and restoring Canada’s promise,” he noted.

Carney said a new cabinet will be sworn in on May 12.

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Alberta

‘Existing oil sands projects deliver some of the lowest-breakeven oil in North America’

Published on May 2, 2025

By

From the Canadian Energy Centre 

By Will Gibson

Alberta oil sands projects poised to grow on lower costs, strong reserves

As geopolitical uncertainty ripples through global energy markets, a new report says Alberta’s oil sands sector is positioned to grow thanks to its lower costs.

Enverus Intelligence Research’s annual Oil Sands Play Fundamentals forecasts producers will boost output by 400,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) by the end of this decade through expansions of current operations.

“Existing oil sands projects deliver some of the lowest-breakeven oil in North America at WTI prices lower than $50 U.S. dollars,” said Trevor Rix, a director with the Calgary-based research firm, a subsidiary of Enverus which is headquartered in Texas with operations in Europe and Asia.

Alberta’s oil sands currently produce about 3.4 million bbls/d. Individual companies have disclosed combined proven reserves of about 30 billion barrels, or more than 20 years of current production.

A recent sector-wide reserves analysis by McDaniel & Associates found the oil sands holds about 167 billion barrels of reserves, compared to about 20 billion barrels in Texas.

While trade tensions and sustained oil price declines may marginally slow oil sands growth in the short term, most projects have already had significant capital invested and can withstand some volatility.

Cenovus Energy’s Christina Lake oil sands project. Photo courtesy Cenovus Energy

“While it takes a large amount of out-of-pocket capital to start an oil sands operation, they are very cost effective after that initial investment,” said veteran S&P Global analyst Kevin Birn.

“Optimization,” where companies tweak existing operations for more efficient output, has dominated oil sands growth for the past eight years, he said. These efforts have also resulted in lower cost structures.

“That’s largely shielded the oil sands from some of the inflationary costs we’ve seen in other upstream production,” Birn said.

Added pipeline capacity through expansion of the Trans Mountain system and Enbridge’s Mainline have added an incentive to expand production, Rix said.

The increased production will also spur growth in regions of western Canada, including the Montney and Duvernay, which Enverus analysts previously highlighted as increasingly crucial to meet rising worldwide energy demand.

“Increased oil sands production will see demand increase for condensate, which is used as diluent to ship bitumen by pipeline, which has positive implications for growth in drilling in liquids-rich regions such as the Montney and Duvernay,” Rix said.

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