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College hosting symposium to discuss renewable energy

Jan 23, 2017 | 8:03 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Medicine Hat College will play host to a conference in March to discuss the impact of renewable energy projects in the region.

The Southeast Alberta Energy Diversification Symposium (SEEDS) is scheduled for March 2 and 3 at the college. The event is a collaboration between the college, Alberta Labour and the Economic Development Alliance of of Southeast Alberta.

Organizers say southeast Alberta is a prime location for companies to invest in renewable energy.

“We want to get that information out to our community members about what it could look like for the area,” said Tracy Stroud, business development manager with the college.

“We have the natural resources to be able to align with what those companies are looking for, as far as being able to bring their projects into the area, and have those natural resources align with diversifying the energy program,” said Theresa Hardiker, executive director of the EDA.

The three partners have been in conversation for several months, with the official partnership being announced in September 2016.

“We wanted to know more about what the labour demands would be for our region, and also some of the economic opportunities available,” said Stroud.

“One of the opportunities that we were definitely looking for was to take a look at what those local, labour job numbers were going to be,” said Hardiker. “We’re wanting to have a good hold on the local labour market.

“We’re trying to break out what’s coming out on an Alberta perspective, but giving us that local focus.”

The results of the exploration between the three groups will be compiled into a report presented at the conference, said Hardiker.

Stroud says the symposium will showcase how the renewable energy and oil and gas sectors can work well together.

“One of the speakers is going to be talking about abandoned wells, and how there’s opportunity to actually put solar on these wells and extend the life cycle of them,” she said. “This leads to having them around for another 30 years and avoiding some of those reclamation costs, and some of those costs going back to the taxpayer.”

“One of the things that we wanted to make sure we stayed within was not taking away from the energy industry in Alberta,” said Hardiker. “What we’re trying to look at is how they compliment each other.”

Stroud says students in several programs at the college already learn about renewable energy in their courses, and says the college is also looking to add a solar training course in the future. She adds the conference targets not just renewable energy companies and people seeking work in the industry, but community leaders as well.

“One of our keynote speakers is Todd Pawsey, development officer with the County of Paintearth,” she said. “They’ve had these projects go up in their area. They’re going to be talking about land-use policies, protection of landowners rights, things should be aware of when these companies come in.”

SEEDS opens on March 2 with a keynote address from author and global clean technology expert Chris Turner on “Surviving and Thriving in the New Low-Carbon Economy.” 

Registration for the conference is now open at https://www.mhc.ab.ca/SEEDS. A full list of speakers can be found on the website.