Cleantech 101 with Sandra Moore, PEI’s first director of cleantech
“What the heck is cleantech?”
Sandra Moore laughs as she repeats the question that she has been asked many times since taking on her role as director of the Cleantech Academy and Innovation Centre with the provincial government.
“It is a good question. I like to think of it as any product, program, initiative, or anything that reduces emissions and negative impacts on the environment. Basically things that move us forward to being a sustainable province, country and world.”
“The word “tech” often brings to mind something digital, but cleantech is a broad approach to doing things cleaner and with a focus on sustainability. And that involves every one of us,” Sandra says.
Cleantech includes programs that help business and industry create new ways to reduce energy impacts. Or it can be projects that engage the community to help build a sustainable province for today and into the future. It spans multiple industries from agriculture to energy.
“We see the effects of climate change and feel it every day."
Most Islanders will tell you that the mild winters and the scorching hot summers are different from what they were just a few decades ago.
Sandra says we need to find practical and affordable ways to reduce our fossil fuel (oil and gas) consumption.
Solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and ensuring buildings are energy efficient are all valuable and sustainable options to help ensure reliable, efficient and affordable ways for individuals, organizations, and municipalities to help our province become Canada’s first net-zero province.
Homeowners can also reduce fossil fuel use through home energy efficiency incentives that offer rebates or free energy efficient equipment.
Sandra knows we can make progress by thinking differently and working together.
Island businesses, organizations, academic institutions and communities developing clean technology may be eligible for $500,000 in funding through the provincial government’s Cleantech Research and Innovation Fund.
The Cleantech Park in Georgetown is PEI’s future home for cleantech innovation, business, energy and education. While the park is under construction, Sandra and her team are already working hard developing educational opportunities in cleantech.
“But it is not just education,” Sandra says. “It is also about working together with business, industry and communities. Deciding on innovations and processes that are sustainable and affordable and that encompass all sectors of our everyday living, this is the goal.”
The first step in achieving that is through the Cleantech Academy, a collaboration between the Government of PEI, Holland College, and the University of PEI, to inspire and advance leaders and change-makers.
Because it’s housed at the Cleantech Park, students will have the chance to have practical work and research experiences in cleantech. It will offer a certificate and a master’s degree in cleantech leadership through a joint initiative between Holland College and UPEI. Holland College is launching their first program supported by the Cleantech Academy in September 2024, the Sustainable Business Leadership post-graduate program.
“These types of programs create the leaders we need in PEI to help us find new solutions to today’s challenges and emerge as a provincial and world leader in energy transitions.”