The Pembina Institute is a Canadian

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

and registered charity focused on

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

. Founded in 1985, the institute has offices in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. The institute's mission is to "advance a prosperous clean energy future for Canada through credible policy solutions that support communities, the economy and a safe climate."

Origin

The Pembina Institute was formed following the 1981 Lodgepole sour gas accident in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, which killed two people and polluted the air for weeks. A small group of rural Albertans came together to secure tougher regulations for drilling

sour gas Sour gas is natural gas or any other gas containing significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Natural gas is usually considered sour if there are more than 5.7 milligrams of H2S per cubic meter of natural gas, which is equivalent to approxim ...

wells, and later went on to form the Pembina Institute.

Policies

The Pembina Institute advocates policies that reduce the use of

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...

s, and supports the transition to cleaner energy sources. The institute’s current work is regionally focused. In Alberta they call for restricting energy development (conventional and unconventional oil and gas as well as

oilsands Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and wate ...

) to limits supported by science. They promote renewable energy sources including

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

and solar, and advocate shutting down coal-fired electricity plants. They support

energy efficiency Energy efficiency may refer to: * Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process ** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed ** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...

policies and actions in communities and businesses, and improved building efficiency. They have called for expanding transit infrastructure and limiting

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

. They have supported the carbon tax in British Columbia and in Alberta, and called for stronger

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

action from the Canadian federal government, including action on reducing

methane emissions Increasing methane emissions are a major contributor to the rising concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, and are responsible for up to one-third of near-term global heating. During 2019, about 60% (360 million tons) of methane r ...

. They have analyzed the impact of freight emissions on Paris Accord targets, stating that the targets will not be met if freight transportation is not made more efficient.

Initiatives

The institute set up the "Business Renewables Centre - Canada" in 2018, with a mandate as "an education platform and community where organizations can learn how to buy their electricity from renewable sources." The Pembina Institute was also involved in the "Renewable is Doable" initiative with WWF-Canada to replace coal and nuclear power with clean energy sources. The institute is a member of the Alberta Energy Efficiency Alliance. It is also a supporting member of the Strathmere group, an assembly of the heads of eleven of Canada’s leading environmental organizations. The institute’s educational initiatives were moved to an independent organization, Green Learning Canada, in 2011.

Intervener standing

In 2012, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development denied the institute standing to express concerns about an

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

oilsands project near

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significant ...

, Alberta. The decision was appealed, and on October 1, 2013, the decision was overturned by the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench.

Funding

The Pembina Institute is primarily funded by a range of project-specific grants, event sponsorships (including those from energy companies such as Suncor,

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

and

Bullfrog Power Bullfrog Power, a Spark Power company, is a Canadian green energy retailer operating in Canada. Bullfrog offers green electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind power, wind and low-impact hydroelectricity, hydro, as well as green fuel ...

) and individual donations. The Institute also performs fee-for-service research and advising to government and industry.

References

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External links

Official Website

Business Renewables Centre - Canada

Green Learning Online
Climate change organizations Environmental organizations based in Alberta Think tanks based in Canada Politics of Alberta Energy policy in North America