Electricity. The power outlet above my kitchen counter that my coffee machine is plugged into. Those green transformer boxes we used to hang out around as kids. Or, maybe, a big white wind turbine against the background of a picturesque meadow.
If you are anything like me, you are constantly daydreaming about your future house. Although the prices of houses in Canada have made home access almost impossible for our generation, I’m still out here looking through house plans and real estate listings online all the time!
I am offering you, here, a mini-series of blog that aim to make you discover the tourist attractions that promote the natural resources found in your province/territory. The activities offered are fun and entertaining while being educational and informative. Discover your region from a new angle and learn more about the different sectors that fuel our country and contribute to its prosperity. I suggest that we start from the Western part of Canada with the beautiful province of British Columbia. So, without further ado, let’s go!
Aiden Gonsalves from YCR caught up with Nikos Papapetrou, the Executive Director of Renewables at MYTILINEOS and a key facilitator of what is the firm’s first massive Canadian investment, to talk about the Canadian and global renewable energy future. Mr. Papapetrou is based in Athens, Greece.
To address the impacts of climate change, oil and gas companies have recently begun pursuing carbon-neutral goals by investing in carbon capture and storage technologies, renewable energy sources, methane detection and reduction technologies, and automation of energy production processes. While these strategies are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there has also been a renewed focus on generating hydrocarbons more sustainably, especially since reliance on hydrocarbons for energy production and manufacturing is predicted to last into the next century. Green hydrocarbons are organic compounds that are produced from sustainable and environmentally friendly methods.
Oil and gas divestment in Canadian university endowment funds is increasing among several universities. With regard to endowment funds, divestment means selling all investments in a particular sector. The discussion surrounding oil and gas divestment in Canadian university endowment funds has picked up in pace as concerns regarding climate change and sustainable investing rise. An example of this is the $4 billion endowment fund of the University of Toronto, Canada's largest university, which intends to divest from fossil fuels.
Late last year Canada unveiled its official critical mineral strategy, a fifty-eight-page document that outlines Canada’s goals for critical mineral development, as well as some of the concrete steps Canada will be taking to achieve these goals. If executed correctly, Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy will help bring wealth and security to our country in a sustainable manner so that Canada’s awe-inspiring environment and ecosystems can be preserved for years to come.
In rapid pursuit of an energy transition, we can not lose sight of the importance of oil & gas in our day to day life. Renewable energy and oil & gas have a mutual dependency, and recognizing the symbiosis of the two is important.
I am a fifth year civil engineering student at the University of Alberta with program electives in geotechnical and water resources engineering. I am also a Dean’s Research Award participant with recent concentrated on the hydrogen storage in salt caverns. I am excited to share my knowledge with SFC and hopefully inspire more young Canadians to learn about hydrogen.
