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Originally Posted by kw5150
We need to diversify our economy further and have a HEALTHY balance of oil and sustainable technologies. I know Calgary already has a large-ish tech sector but not sure how much of this is green technology.
Surprisingly.......I think Calgary does have a good green-tech sector but cant confirm that. I really hope solar makes a big impact SOON! Alberta is a very sunny place.
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I don't think the industrial side of things is very large. Although we're a major consumer of renewable technologies, most of the technology is purchased and shipped in. For example, the size of wind turbines in Alberta have been mostly determined by how large of a turbine blade railways are willing to handle. Siemens and Vestas both have large wind R&D and production facilities in Colorado, while Enercon has some major facilities in Quebec... everything else happens in Europe. Meanwhile, a lot of low-head hydro is based out in BC.
However, in terms of research I think Calgary is a very powerful hub. I might be biased, because they've stuck all the environmental engineering grad students into the same building here at the U of C, so we sort of live in our own bubble. However, many of my colleagues are funded or collaborating with foreign governments and corporations that could have chosen a local university, but decided not to. So I think that's a very good vote of confidence, in addition to all the local energy companies and agencies who are involved here. Even very conservative players like electricity distributors, Enmax is investing a lot of money into distributed grid and smart grid research at the U of C.