Advent of green technologies an opportunity for cities, mayors told

As renewable and green technologies become the norm, local economies have the choice of being producers or purchasers, said Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.

He was speaking at a news conference at the Global Mayors Summit on Sunday ahead of an International Climate Change Science Conference being held in Edmonton today through Wednesday.

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, who had earlier echoed a similar sentiment, said gaps for innovators and entrepreneurs in green technology are being filled by people from China.

About 70 per cent of the photo voltaic cell market, about 70 per cent of the high-speed rail market, and about 60 per cent of wind turbine production capacity is in China, he said.

“We could be building these things we are going to need, or we can buy them from someone else,” Iveson said.

Through the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon scenarios, Iveson said the commodities produced in Alberta will have markets. But only for a while.

“The question is, at which point we will stop burning them and using them for higher purposes because we have substituted energy sources?” he asked.

Just as the demand for coal dropped — causing a decline in Pittsburgh’s economy — Edmonton and Alberta need to be prepared for the decline in fossil fuels, Iveson said.

Peduto said Pittsburgh was where coal was discovered in the United States. And oil in the United States was discovered just north of Pittsburgh.

“Coal helped to build the steel that built America,” Peduto said. “It’s part of our heritage, it’s something we’re very proud of; both my grandfathers worked in the steel mill. But we also realize that it is not necessarily our future.”

He said people from Pittsburgh realize that the world is moving on, adding that Pennsylvania today employs more people in the renewable-energy sector than in coal, oil and gas combined. The winds of change are blowing. Iveson said the change from fossil fuels to renewable energy isn’t going to happen overnight, so there’s going to be economic opportunities and responsible stewardship of energy resources in Alberta and Edmonton.

But there is also opportunity — both in the private and research sector — for innovation.