(5c) Emerging Technologies and Alternative Energy: a Perspective of a Petroleum Exporting Jurisdiction

Alberta has the world's 2nd largest crude oil reserves and is the largest foreign supplier of crude oil to the United States* . Alberta's current prosperity in energy is largely based on sustained aggressive public and private investments in research and development and field trials, which led to many new oil/gas recovery processes and enabling technologies. This is especially true in oil sands where Alberta has over 70% of the world's resources. These experiences have shown that governments have a key role to play in the development of new technologies. They can make innovation happen, across the full energy technology spectrum, from applied basic research and technology development to engineering design, pilot and pre-commercial demonstration projects.

The integration of the North American economy presents both opportunities and challenges for Alberta. The government is committed to ensuring that its energy sector remains viable and attractive for investment. Strategically positioning itself in a future where there is a transition from global dependence on fossil fuels to Alternative Energy presents a major challenge among many.

The Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) serves as the energy technology arm of the Government of Alberta. Its mission is to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies through research, technology and innovation. AERI has a mandate to position Alberta for the future in energy; add value to its energy resources; encourage and invest in technology and innovation; and coordinate energy and environmental R&D across government agencies.

AERI's Emerging Energy Technologies strategic intent is to foster and support the adoption, adaptation and/or development of emerging technologies for immediate application to the problems and challenges of the current fossil world, then leverage the resulting innovation and knowledge base to building a stronger economic foundation for that of an Alternative Energy future. Examples are Underground Coal Gasification for hydrogen production, nano-structured materials for gas separation/storage and geothermal recovery from abandoned oil/gas wells.

AERI has extensive experience in investing both in applied research, field pilots and in demonstrations of Next-Generation energy technologies. It includes:

? Roadmapping: The importance of identifying gaps in both technology and policy.

? Focus: The need to focus on high impact-technology platforms.

? Balance: The need to maintain a balanced portfolio of investments.

? Collaboration: The importance of joint government-industry investments to share the risk of pilot and demonstration projects.

? Transparency: The need for diligent screening and selection of technologies and partners, especially in areas of technology implementation ? having many partners is not necessarily desirable.

? Sustained Support: Progress can only be made through ?learning by doing?, and persistence and long-term sustained effort are the keys to success.

Examples of AERI current investment in emerging energy technologies, such as advanced gasification, nano-structure materials, etc. and their implications from an Alternative Energy perspective will be presented. A summary of available R&D funding in energy and environment, along with the $2 billion investment for research and implementation of carbon capture and sequestration will also be highlighted.

* US Energy Information Administration, December 2008