We all know that there are a lot of great ideas in Estevan, and some pretty cool technology 小蓝视频 utilized here.听
Everyone in town should know about the carbon capture and storage facility at SaskPower鈥檚 Boundary Dam Power Station, the great technology that it boasts, that it was the first facility of its kind in the world, and that it has created a better environment, to the tune of capturing more than four million tonnes of carbon dioxide since it opened in October 2014.听
A lot of us know about the Deep Earth Energy Production Corp.鈥檚 geothermal facility, which is spearheaded by former Estevan resident Kirsten Marcia. While geothermal power is certainly a known quantity elsewhere in the world, the facility currently under construction outside of Torquay would be the first of its kind in Canada.听
But how many know about the great innovations and advancements that are happening in our backyard in the oilpatch and in agriculture? A lot of people are doing great things in and around Estevan to optimize their company鈥檚 performance, to be more efficient, to cut down on emissions and to improve their industry.
That鈥檚 why the innovation council formed by the City of Estevan last year, and the innovation conference happening this fall, will be tremendous for our community.听
The innovation council has been looking for ways to promote what is happening here, through such initiatives as the innovation conference.
For two days, we鈥檒l have speakers lined up to promote the work that they do, with the theme of 鈥淭he Future is鈥︹�� The keynote speaker, former Estevan resident Jeff Sandquist, is now a corporate vice-president at Microsoft. You can be sure he鈥檒l bring some great insights.听
But there will be two panel discussions, and a series of speakers who will delve into what is happening in power generation, mining, agriculture, the oilfield, education and more. They鈥檒l talk about how the Estevan area is shaping these industries, and how changes will affect these industries.
For those who maybe won鈥檛 be able to attend the sessions, but still have a keen interest in innovation, there will be a trade show at the Affinity Place concourse, with all sorts of ideas and concepts for people to browse.听
There鈥檚 also been talk of having a children鈥檚 science fair to get more people in the community involved. 听
This convention will also be good for the local economy, as people will be coming to Estevan to speak and to hear these messages.
Innovation doesn鈥檛 necessarily need to be some grandiose idea. Sometimes it鈥檚 taking a concept and improving it to make it better. 听
Everything starts with an idea. Carbon capture and storage started with an idea. Someone wanted to find a way to capture the CO2, store it underground and use it in enhanced oil recovery. Then someone thought we could take that concept and incorporate it into other directions, including power production.听
While it鈥檚 taken a while for CCS to become a widespread option in power production, we鈥檙e seeing other jurisdictions starting to warm up to it. And it鈥檚 growing in use in other industries, too. 听
We saw earlier this year how significant CCS is becoming when Elon Musk offered $100 million for the top CCS project.
Those who live outside of Estevan, and more specifically outside of Saskatchewan, might look at our community and wonder what we have going for ourselves. After all, conventional coal mining is on borrowed time, and the federal government has taken unfavourable steps in dealing with the oil and gas sector.
But we actually do have a lot going for us.
We should be damn proud to be a mining city, an oil and gas city and a farming city, and we should be grateful for the contributions of these industries. 听听听
And we should be proud of those who are coming up with new ideas to enhance these and other industries.
An innovation conference in Estevan? Sounds great to us.
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