Elon Musk is no stranger to Saskatchewan.聽
Back in 1989, Musk spent six weeks working on a cousin鈥檚 farm near tiny Waldeck, just outside of Swift Current. 聽
You have to wonder how much time he spent travelling the province, and what he remembers from his time here. After all, that was 30 years ago, and a lot has happened to him since. You wonder if people who encountered him randomly during those six weeks remember him. 聽
Regardless, it鈥檚 a remarkable tidbit about one of the great innovators of our time.聽
It turns out that Mr. Musk shares something with many of us: an affinity for carbon capture technology. Earlier this year, Musk announced he would spend $100 million US on a contest for researchers to create projects on carbon capture. 聽
We think it鈥檚 wonderful that Musk has taken such a keen interest on carbon capture. 聽
The City of Estevan has announced that it is extending an invitation to Musk to come to Estevan so that he can see the carbon capture technology that Estevan has to offer. This would undoubtedly be great news for our community and for the great working technology we have in our backyard. 聽
As Mayor Roy Ludwig points out, industry and government officials from across the globe have toured and researched the carbon capture and storage facility at SaskPower鈥檚 Boundary Dam Power Station. And he鈥檚 quick to add that Estevan also has the carbon capture test facility.聽
As an example of the technology here, shortly after the CCS facility at Boundary Dam opened, the Yugoslav ambassador to Canada of the day referred to it as the 鈥淢ount Everest of technology鈥� after he toured it. 聽
The city is calling on residents to get behind a letter-writing campaign to bring Musk here. The letter can be found on the Estevan Economic Development social media accounts. 聽
We urge people to take the time to sign this letter and invite Mr. Musk to Estevan. You may not be a Tesla fan, but it鈥檚 easy to grasp how wonderful this would be for Estevan. Not only would he get to see our CCS technology, but he would get to see all that Estevan has to offer, the efforts of our oilfield companies to meet environmental standards, and he would get to encounter many of the wonderful people in our community.聽聽聽
If nothing else, the city has nothing to lose. If this succeeds, then the wealthiest and one of the most famous people on the planet will come to our community and see this marvellous global environmental game-changer in our backyard.聽
Not only that, but there would be considerable media attention paid to his visit. It would be the biggest boost in exposure for our CCS facility since it opened nearly 6 1/2 years ago.聽
If he says no, well, it鈥檚 not like it cost us anything. And who knows, maybe he鈥檒l do a little research on what we have in our backyard. 聽
He likely wouldn鈥檛 be able to visit until after the Canada-U.S. border is open once again, and the current restrictions are lifted, but the border won鈥檛 be closed forever.聽聽聽
Carbon capture and storage has brought great environmental benefits. Last year the CCS facility at Boundary Dam prevented more than 729,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere. At some point within the next couple of months, it will likely eclipse four million tonnes of CO2 captured. 聽
Boundary Dam has helped create a more environmentally friendly world.聽
As a bonus, the carbon capture test facility is a few kilometres away at the Shand Power Station, where SaskPower has been able to experiment to find ways to make carbon capture even better, and other companies have also been able to improve their efficiencies.聽
We know about the benefits of carbon capture. Musk knows about the benefits of carbon capture. And a growing number of companies grasp the potential of carbon capture, and how important it will be to reducing emissions. 聽
It鈥檚 not the only option to fight climate change, but it鈥檚 a big piece of the puzzle, and well worth Musk鈥檚 interest.
