Introduction
Canadians enjoy one of the highest qualities of life on the planet thanks in no small part to our energy resources and our knowledge of how to exploit them. In order for these resources to bring more benefit to Canada and in order to pass this rich legacy to our children and grandchildren we need to address the pressing issues of climate change. How to develop energy resources in a manner that is consistent with a sustainable, circular economy that meets the constraints of a global climate change mitigation strategy is one of the great engineering challenges of our time.
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Webinar #1 – Series on Net-Zero Emissions
Maintaining Canada’s Economic Prosperity while Achieving Net-Zero by 2050
Hosted by the Canadian Academy for Engineering, the 1st webinar in a series dedicated to net-zero emissions was held on January 28th, 2021. Click here to view the Video.
Governments around the world are under pressure to undertake urgent and bold actions to deliver huge greenhouse gas emissions reductions to avoid the catastrophic effects of a warming climate. Many countries have committed to transition to a net-zero economy by 2050. In November 2020, Canada also made a commitment to achieve net-zero. The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act was tabled to set rolling five-year binding emissions-reduction targets and chart pathways to net-zero by 2050.
A review on the history of climate change agreements, including strategies to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C, and technologies that are being promoted globally for displacing fossil fuels.
Panelists provided some alterative mitigation pathways for Canada towards achieving net-zero by 2050, while at the same time growing the economy and transforming Canada’s energy systems. This will include presentation of results of earlier studies, and potential impacts of recent promising Canadian technological developments and initiatives.
Panelists Presentations:
- Eddy Isaacs FCAE, former CEO of Alberta Innovates – Energy & Environment Solutions
- Oskar Sigvaldason FCAE, Director, Energy Council of Canada
Moderated by: Soheil Asgarpour FCAE, President, Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC)
Achieving net-zero by 2050: challenges and opportunities of electrification and electric cars
Held on March 3rd, 2021 at 12:00 pm EST, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, in collaboration with National Engineering Month, hosted its second webinar dedicated to net-zero emissions. The focus of this seminar is to discuss the challenges and opportunities of electrification and electric cars.
The following are some of the topics which will be touched on in the webinar:
- Peter will discuss the role of electric and autonomous vehicles in achieving net-zero, and the future of the Canadian automotive industry;
- Christian will discuss the challenges and opportunities of electrification in the Quebec’s context.
Panelists:
Peter Frise, Professor of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, University of Windsor
Christian Bélanger, Director Scientific Research, Hydro-Québec Research Institute
Moderator: Soheil Asgarpour, President, Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC)