Alberta
Alberta announces second waste-to-energy facility near Edmonton to join Central Alberta plant at Innisfail
This waste-to-energy facility also built by Norway’s Varme Energy will be located in an industrial area outside of Birmingham, UK
With $2.8 million from the industry-funded TIER program, Alberta’s government is advancing Canada’s first industrial-scale waste-to-energy facility using technology.
Less than three per cent of municipal waste in Canada is currently being converted into energy, and none of these existing projects are capturing and storing their carbon dioxide emissions. With landfills accounting for 23 per cent of methane emissions in Canada, municipalities and corporations across the country are looking for innovative ways to reach their landfill diversion and sustainability targets.
Alberta’s government is providing $2.8 million through Emissions Reduction Alberta for a $6.1-million front-end engineering and design study led by Varme Energy. This funding helps get Canada’s first facility that uses carbon capture to turn municipal waste into clean electricity closer to construction.
“Alberta is a global leader in carbon capture, utilization and storage technology, and the best place for innovative projects like this one to thrive. Varme Energy is tapping into our province’s exceptional geology, workforce and expertise to advance a landfill elimination solution that will reduce emissions and continue Alberta’s reputation for delivering clean, secure energy to the world.”
“Alberta is a leader in responsible energy development. I am proud to see our government continue to invest in new, innovative technologies that will help ensure our power grid is affordable, reliable and sustainable for generations to come.”
The future facility will be built on Gibson Energy land within the Designated Industrial Zone in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, with operations estimated to begin in 2027. Here, solid waste from municipal landfills will be converted into electricity for the grid, with the captured carbon injected into one of Alberta’s carbon sequestration hubs. The facility is expected to capture and store about 185,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
“Emissions Reduction Alberta is proud to provide provincial funding to this first-in-Canada project. The study is an important first step to realizing a large-scale municipal waste-to-energy facility with carbon capture and storage. This project not only reduces emissions, but also sets a new standard for how we provide clean, reliable energy from waste destined for landfills.”
By incorporating carbon capture into the waste-to-energy process, all of the greenhouse gas emissions that are typically released from a waste-to-energy facility will instead be captured and sequestered underground. This helps reduce methane emissions from waste that would normally decompose at the landfill, and ensures all carbon is captured and stored deep in the earth, creating a carbon-negative system where the process stores more carbon dioxide than it emits.
“We are thrilled at how Varme has been embraced by Alberta. The magnitude of support, encouragement and collaboration we’ve received from the Government of Alberta, and Albertans at large, has been beyond our expectations. This direct provincial financial support is a significant de-risk that will help bring our project to a positive final investment decision. Emissions Reduction Alberta’s support demonstrates how Alberta’s TIER carbon pricing system is a powerful tool for converting our historical emissions levies into future emissions reductions, modern jobs and economic activity.”
Quick facts
- Varme Energy’s front-end engineering and design study is expected to be completed in December 2024 with construction set to begin in 2025.
- In addition to provincial funding support through the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program, Varme Energy is working with Gibson Energy, the City of Edmonton and the Canada Growth Fund to advance this project, with the ultimate goal of diverting more than 200,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste away from landfills each year.
- Canada currently processes about 26 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually.
- Through the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line and Quest carbon capture, utilization and storage projects, Alberta has safely sequestered more than 13.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to date, which is equivalent to the emissions from 2.9 million cars per year.
- McKinsey projects that annual global investment in carbon capture, utilization and storage could reach $175 billion by 2035, with the majority of these investments in hard-to-abate sectors and the power sector.
Alberta
$8.6 billion committed: Province to fund up to 30 new schools and 8 modernizations in each of next 3 years
Alberta’s government is committing $8.6 billion to complete and open 200,000 new student spaces across the province in the next seven years.
Alberta’s population is growing exponentially as more people from across Canada and around the world choose to make the province their home. This rapid growth is causing strain on the Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system, with student enrolment increasing at historic rates.
To keep up with fast-rising student enrolment, Alberta’s government is committing $8.6 billion through the new School Construction Accelerator Program. This program will create more than 200,000 new and modernized spaces for students to learn, grow and reach their full potential. Starting in Budget 2025, Alberta’s government will kick-start up to 30 new schools and as many as eight modernizations and replacement schools every year for the next three years.
“Every student deserves a quality education in a school that can meet their learning needs and set them on a path to success in the future. As hundreds of thousands of people are choosing to make Alberta their home, we are responding by funding and building the schools our fast-growing communities need. As we build, we’re asking school boards and municipalities to work with us so we can get shovels in the ground as quickly as possible.”
The Calgary Metropolitan Area and Edmonton Metropolitan Region, along with other communities across the province, have been feeling the pressures of strong student growth and aging school infrastructure. The School Construction Accelerator Program will result in 50,000 new or modernized student spaces over the next three years – and more than 150,000 new and modernized spaces over the following four years. In total, the School Construction Accelerator Program will mean approval for up to 30 new school projects and as many as eight new modernization and replacement projects every year over the next three years. In addition to the school projects, 20,000 new student spaces will be delivered through modular classrooms over the next four years.
“We are investing in the future of our province. Through our commitment to kick-start 30 new schools each year over the next three years, we are delivering new student spaces across the province and in our fastest-growing communities for students to learn, grow and reach their full potential.”
“I look forward to working with my ministry and industry partners to build the schools Albertans need and ensuring that each project is as unique as the students who use them. School builds, modernizations and renovations support tens of thousands of jobs across the province. As Alberta communities continue to grow, this announcement will allow us to meet demands for spaces faster and more efficiently, all while creating jobs and boosting our local and provincial economies.”
The School Construction Accelerator program also takes immediate action to speed up the construction of schools by enabling school projects to be approved in-year for their next stage in the construction process without having to wait for the next budget cycle. This means all previously approved school projects currently in the planning and design stages can move forward to the next stage as soon as they are ready to do so. Through this change, 10 previously announced priority school projects are now approved for the next stage of project delivery, including six moving to full construction.
“We appreciate the government’s recognition that there is an urgent need to provide additional learning spaces for CBE students. CBE families are looking forward to new schools in their growing communities and modernizations to address aging infrastructure. Thank you to the Premier and the Government of Alberta for this much-needed investment.”
“Edmonton Public Schools is grateful for the province’s funding for school infrastructure. This crucial support will help us meet urgent needs and positively affect our students and families.”
The population growth has not only increased pressure in the public and separate school system but has increased demand for publicly funded charter programming and space needs. Public charter schools play an important role in Alberta’s education system by offering unique programming to students focused on a learning style, teaching style, approach or pedagogy not already being offered by school boards where the charter is located. As part of this accelerated program, Alberta’s government will add 12,500 new charter school student spaces over the next four years through a Charter School Accelerator pilot program.
“The Association of Alberta Public Charter Schools is elated by this historic capital announcement. It will help ensure that more families and students can access the excellent programming our public charter schools offer for generations to come.”
Independent schools offer specialized learning supports as well as religious and cultural programming to support parental and educational choice. Alberta’s government will continue to explore opportunities for a school capital pilot program for non-profit independent schools to broaden learning options for Alberta families.
Quick facts
- The School Construction Accelerator Program will deliver more than 200,000 new and modernized student spaces.
- Previously approved school projects and modular classrooms will create about 50,000 new and modernized student spaces over the next three years.
- The program will create about 150,000 additional new and modernized student spaces. This includes:
- more than 100,000 new student spaces
- more than 16,600 modernized student spaces
- more than 20,000 student spaces in new or relocated modular classrooms
From Free Alberta Strategy
For decades, Canada’s immigration policies were uncontroversial – parties across the spectrum maintained generally sensible policies.
But the current government in Ottawa has ditched this consensus, and the public mood is turning fast.
A large influx of newcomers has put a significant strain on public services and the housing market across the country.
Alberta, in particular, is feeling the strain, as our province receives both a disproportionately large share of the immigrants arriving in Canada, as well as by far the largest number of people moving between provinces.
Earlier this year, the Alberta government reported that in the year from April 2023 to April 2024, Alberta’s population had grown a record 4.11%, representing 204,677 people.
This is by far the highest annual growth rate in the country, outpacing second-place Ontario by nearly a full percentage point.
Importantly, international migration is responsible for about 68% of the increase, interprovincial migration is responsible for about 25%, and just 8% is caused by natural increase.
Another area of immigration that has significantly increased in Alberta is asylum seekers, which have more than doubled from 5,076 per year to 11,292 per year.
Of course, this represents just a small portion of the overall immigration to Alberta, and Alberta actually accepts a much smaller share of asylum seekers (about 5% of the total) compared with our population (about 12% of Canada).
But, Ottawa is now pushing to change this – they want provinces like Alberta to accept more of their “fair share” of asylum seekers – despite the fact that Alberta already receives more than its “fair share” of other types of immigrants.
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Millers says the federal government anticipates full cooperation from all provinces and territories as it strives for a fair and sustainable approach to managing the influx.
He says the federal government has “levers that we need to push and pull” when it comes to enticing provinces to agree to their terms:
“The reality is that Quebec and Ontario are facing disproportionate pressures, compared to any other province in the country – as they have been welcoming the majority of asylum seekers,” says the Minister.
“We will have proper incentives for those willing to welcome asylum seekers, and will take a holistic view with regards to other immigration programs based on participation – as this is work we cannot do alone, nor unilaterally. All options remain on the table.”
In other words, the federal government is once again planning on spending more of our tax dollars to effectively bribe the provinces’ to go along with their policies.
This idea isn’t new – Quebec has already urged the Trudeau government to disperse asylum-seekers more evenly across the provinces.
Premier Smith, however, is saying no:
“Section 95 of the Constitution is clear – immigration is an area of shared authority between the federal government and the provinces.”
“We are informing the Government of Canada that until further notice, Alberta is not open to having these additional asylum seekers settled in our province,” she added.
“We simply cannot afford it.”
Maybe, when the full details of the federal government’s plan are made public, the numbers will stack up.
But, based on past precedent, it seems unlikely.
More likely, this is just another agreement with the federal government that Alberta can’t afford to make.
Time and time again, we’ve seen the federal government approach the provincial government with a deal that – in Ottawa’s view – is good for the province.
We know, as we’ve seen with the nationalized childcare fiasco, that these deals very rarely work out for Alberta.
The Free Alberta Strategy continues to be Alberta’s shield against federal overreach, ensuring that Albertans remain in control of our future.
This issue is just the latest battle in which our unwavering defence of our provinces’ best interests can make a real difference.
If you believe in defending Alberta from Ottawa, join us!
Your contribution will help ensure that the Free Alberta Strategy has the resources and voice it needs to push back.
Donate today to stand up for Alberta’s sovereignty and sustainability!
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