Accelerating Community Energy Transformation
Communities around the world have declared climate emergencies and urgently require innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience. Canada and other countries that have signed the Paris Agreement have already committed to making significant reductions by 2030, with many (including Canada) hoping to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. However, as the International Energy Agency has noted, meeting these objectives “will require nothing short of the complete transformation of the global energy system.”
Advancing energy transitions in Canada presents a unique opportunity to leverage the research strengths of Canadian postsecondary institutions and achieve global success in areas applicable to other nations and immediately relevant to the most pressing problem facing the world today. The proposed Accelerating Community Energy Transformation initiative will support municipalities smaller than those considered “metropolitan areas,” including remote and Indigenous communities. The initiative will seek breakthroughs in implementing these municipalities’ energy transition, including capitalizing on coastal marine renewable resources and non-electric energy vectors.
The interdisciplinary systems approach of the Accelerating Community Energy Transformation initiative strategically incorporates expertise from engineering, geography, law, political science, Indigenous governance, public administration, business, economics and environmental studies. Researchers from the University of Victoria, The University of British Columbia, Royal Roads University, Yukon University and the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières are world leaders in these disciplines, as applied to energy solutions. They are uniquely positioned to assist communities in charting paths to energy resilience and sustainability, integrating technological innovation, community engagement, policy development, business innovation and Indigenous research. Accelerating Community Energy Transformation will pursue breakthroughs in renewable energy technologies and their implementation at the community level by engaging new, interdisciplinary perspectives and scientific approaches, informed by novel business models and governance approaches and driven by community-engaged priorities and aspirations. Community-level Accelerating Community Energy Transformation outputs will be translated and scaled to national and global decarbonization efforts, informed by bottom-up community insights into energy transition.