The latest advancements in clean technology, energy efficiency, renewable and alternative energy, and innovative oil and gas technology were showcased during the Energy Innovation Fair in Red Deer.
ReThink Red Deer, Sol Invictus Energy Services and Red Deer Polytechnic teamed up to facilitate the first-ever edition of the fair on Saturday. This event is a revamped version of the 2019 Renewable Energy Fair, which was hosted by ReThink Red Deer.
The event featured about 25 exhibitors, panel discussions and demos in the polytechnic’s Cenovus Energy Learning Common.
“This is a free public event being held in an effort to prove improve energy literacy for the community surrounding energy diversification and what that means,” said Chelsah Thomas, Sol Invictus Energy Services co-founder.
“It’s a high-level topic. There’s always talk about oil and gas, but that’s just part of the conversation in regards to energy. What we wanted to do was showcase programs, projects and innovations happening in our backyard.”
Sol Invictus Energy Services, based in Lacombe County, is a B-Crop certified energy efficiency consulting firm.
“As we began to engage a lot of the stakeholders to this event in relation to geothermal, carbon capture, hydrogen, solar, energy efficiency and a bunch of other realms of clean tech, I realized I had no idea how much was going on in Central Alberta. It’s pretty diverse,” Thomas noted.
There was a wide range of energy innovation projects showcased during the event, including AI being integrated into businesses help those businesses become more efficient to reduce the amount of time and effort spent, which in turn reduces energy usage. Meanwhile, the demo room featured items, including electric vehicles.
“With everything we do in our daily, energy is a fundamental component. We’re highlighting all of the organizations that are making changes and helping us adapt to the changing world around us,” said Thomas.
The plan moving forward is to turn the Energy Innovation Fair into an annual event.
“It’s been so well received by Red Deer and the community,” Thomas added.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter