Getting the Regulations Right is the Key to Unlocking Alberta’s Next Energy Economy | The Canadian News

At first glance, it doesn’t look like much: a room in the University of Calgary’s research park filled with pumps, valves, and pressure gauges. But it is a new technology that could be the beginning of a new multibillion dollar industry.

“Alberta may be one of the world’s largest lithium producers, depending on the resources we have here in the province,” said Chris Doornbos, CEO of E3 Metals.

Lithium has become a multi-billion dollar industry and continues to grow with the increased use of electric vehicles, wearable devices, and mobile devices.

E3 Metals is engineering technology to extract lithium from the same brine that Alberta companies have been removing from conventional oil production for generations.

It involves pumping the brine through an ion exchange process that removes the lithium and then pumps the brine underground.

It has proven to be very effective in the laboratory, the next step is to take the technology to the field for testing later this year.

The ultimate goal is to achieve commercial production in three to five years.

“We have some of the most important milestones for the company in these next 18 months.”

As automakers move toward electric vehicle development, demand for lithium is increasing, and companies around the world are working like E3 to get a piece of that market.

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“Literally a worldwide gold rush for countries that are positioned to win in this new supply chain,” said Dan Wicklum, CEO of Transition Accelerator.

“The debate is over, we will see massive electrification in the future.”

To capitalize on this, Wicklum says governments must create the right conditions and regulatory framework for companies to invest.

“Define future energy systems, the ones we know will work for us, what they will be like in the future and build a path towards them.”

The Alberta government has started this work. In the fall session, it passed House Bill 82, legislation that creates a regulatory framework for rare earth minerals and provides oversight to the Alberta Energy Regulator. This was the first update in two decades of Alberta’s minerals strategy.

“There has been such a focus on oil and gas, it sucked up all the oxygen in the room when it comes to mineral exploration,” Prime Minister Jason Kenney told Global News in a year-end interview.

“We really didn’t have a solid regulatory framework.”

Chris Doornbos says the legislation gives the company a clear path to advance permitting and hopefully be at the forefront of a whole new industry.

“We have a great opportunity to grow in this market because it is expanding rapidly and there are many gaps to fill that we can fill here in Alberta.”