A new provincial centre will energize BC’s coastal communities, businesses and industries with cutting-edge marine renewable energy and decarbonization technologies developed at the University of Victoria (UVic).
Announced today, the BC Marine Energy & Decarbonization Hub—a partnership between UVic and the Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies (COAST)—will strengthen the bridge between public and private sectors to accelerate decarbonization in BC’s maritime infrastructure and deliver resilient and economical clean energy options for coastal communities and First Nations. Read the COAST news release.
The following UVic experts are available to media for comment about the hub, marine renewable energy, community-led clean energy transformations, and the role of research in achieving a net-zero future.
Curran Crawford (Accelerating Community Energy Transformation (ACET)/Mechanical Engineering) is the founding executive director of ACET, a 40-plus partner initiative accelerating the global push for clean energy solutions through community-based collaborations. In addition to his expertise in sustainable energy system design and operation, Crawford can talk about ACET’s work co-creating clean energy solutions with small- to mid-sized communities across Canada. (Contact: [email protected])
Brad Buckham (Pacific Regional institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED)/Mechanical Engineering) is director of PRIMED, an independent division of ACET that works with off-grid coastal communities and technology developers to build first-of-a-kind marine energy demonstration projects on the BC Coast. Buckham can discuss the current state of world research on marine renewable energy and share stories from PRIMED’s two decades working with remote and Indigenous communities on marine renewable energy systems. (Contact: [email protected])
Lisa Kalynchuk (Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation) is the vice-president of research and innovation at UVic. She led the creation of the university’s research strategy, Aspiration 2030, which prioritizes cross-sector collaboration through public-private partnerships. Kalynchuk can speak about the role of community-engaged research that advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and to the ongoing legacy of ocean and marine innovation at UVic. (Contact: [email protected])
