Grant: Canada First Research Excellence Fund

Energy Innovations for Today and Tomorrow is the University of Calgary’s institutional strategy for energy research. Created by the combined effort of over 220 faculty members drawn from across our entire institution and launched in 2013, our Energy Research Strategy addresses some of the most complex problems facing society in the energy field. Its central vision is delivering safe, clean, secure energy supplies for the world. By 2040, with the global population reaching 9 billion people and even with the anticipated decrease in per capita energy use, world energy demand will be 1.5 times greater than in 2012. Meeting this demand is a daunting problem if future generations are to enjoy sustained prosperity with minimal environmental impacts, including significant reductions in carbon emissions. Through the implementation of the Energy Research Strategy, we are taking a leadership role in developing and sharing the next great energy innovations that the world so urgently needs. It identifies four grand challenges of global significance where we have the combined research and training capacity to deliver world-class solutions. These grand challenges address major global issues surrounding unconventional hydrocarbon resources, hydraulic fracturing, towards low carbon energy, and cumulative effects of energy-related processes. Located in the capital of Canada’s fossil fuel industry, our institution benefits from collaborative research opportunities with energy companies, decision-makers and technology users. This enables us to create and deploy rapidly new advances in the responsible extraction of Canada’s precious resources and to be one of the few world-leaders in high-impact energy research.