Letter from Canada: Alberta’s image complicates clean energy ambitions

The home of Canada’s oil and gas sector is seeking to reposition itself but is being hamstrung by the record of its provincial government

Alberta is seeking to position itself as a base for the budding cleantech and new energy sector in Canada, but the province’s current administration may have jeopardised those ambitions. The province, home to much of Canada’s oil and gas industry, has certain advantages when it comes to its clean energy goals, including many highly trained but unemployed or underemployed energy workers, plus a massive amount of vacant and very affordable office space in downtown Calgary. Alberta’s efforts to become Canada’s clean energy capital could, though, be thwarted by a serious image problem. And while the province’s massive oil sands reserves may represent a barrier in themselves—and relatively lacklu