A carbon capture test facility opened on Norway’s west coast last week.

Image: TCM

It’s the biggest and most advanced lab for testing carbon capture technology in the world. It took six years to build at a cost of one billion dollars (slightly over estimated budgets, but that’s another story).

The facility is called Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM)  and is a joint venture between the Norwegian state, Statoil, Shell and Sasol.

It’s built beside an oil refinery and a gas fired power station so exhaust gas from both, containing CO2, can be pumped into TCM. Two technologies, made by two different companies are being tested, one against the other. The intent is to find a solution to storing CO2 that works better and costs less than what exists today.

This BBC video tells the story.

Evergreen Canada is one of the groups behind the upcoming Toronto Transportation Expo. They have put out a casting call for someone to spend a month in car.

How hard could that be? And why a month you ask? Organizers have determined that the average Torontonian spends that much time commuting to and from work every year. Interested in the gig? Send them 250 words or less about yourself and your thoughts on sustainable living with a one minute video to puts a face to your name. This is Toronto-based – you need to be a current commuter in that city to have this all make sense of course. So if you are up for living in a car for 24 hours a day for 4 weeks – with breaks – this might be the perfect summer gig for you.

Visit their Facebook page or month in a car for more information.

Edmonton will be playing host to the Alberta Skills Canada competition May 10 – May 15. There will be Try-A-Trade® demonstrations as well as ongoing competitions for high school and post secondary students. The GETT conference, sponsored by Cenovus also runs on Friday, May 11. It’s an opportunity for high school girls to connect with certified tradeswomen, apprentices and technology experts and chat about pursuing a different kind of career. All of the events take place at the Edmonton Expo Centre, Northlands.

So if you are trying to decide which career path is right for you, drop by Skills City.

Teachers, you all know there is nothing better than first hand experience to accelerate learning, so here is a summer PD program that more than fits the bill.

Inside Education is hosting the Canadian Oil Sands Education Program this summer. They are inviting 20 teachers from Alberta and 20 teachers from across Canada to apply for the program. All you have to do is articulate your reasons for wishing to attend on your online application. And if your application is accepted, Inside Education will provide you with a full scholarship to attend the program.

Your food, program travel, accommodations and all facility tours and workshops are all included in the scholarship. In addition Inside Education will cover the costs of flights for participants from outside Alberta.

Early bird application date is May 31. Deadline for all applications in June 7.

So it’s up to you. What an amazing opportunity.

The U.S. is back on top of the clean energy investment race. But the position might be short lived.

Five clean energy initiatives in the States ended in 2011 including three tax credit programs, the Department of the Treasury Section 1603 Grant Program and Department of Energy Section 1705 Loan Guarantees.

Pew Environment Group recently released their annual report on clean energy investment. With a primary focus on investment, the report also looks at technological trends related to the clean energy economy of G-20 members.

The United States attracted $48.1 billion in clean energy investments in 2011. It led the way in venture capital financing (70 per cent of the G-20 total) and was second in public market offerings and asset financing (behind China). The U.S. also has 93 GW of installed renewable energy capacity, second only to China, which continues to lead the world in clean energy capacity with 133 GW installed.

2011 was the first year that the U.S. installed more that 1 GW of solar energy and a portion of its 2011 investment dollars were directed towards solar. Investments in large, utility-scale solar power plants are expected to add to America’s installed capacity count in the years to come.

In Canada, our clean energy investment grew by four per cent last year and totalled $5.5 billion. That puts us 11th amoung the G-20 nations. This is were our investment dollars were spent in 2011:

• 56 per cent of total – wind
• 19 per cent – solar, both residential and commercial
• 13 per cent  – other renewables like geothermal, biomass and small-hydro
• 8 per cent  – biofuels
• 4 per cent  – efficiency and low carbon technology and services

Canada has 9.6 GW of installed renewable energy capacity, which is 1.9 per cent of the G-20 total. That breaks down into four sectors: 5.4GW of wind power, 2 GW of small hydro power, 1.8 GW of energy generated by biomass and waste and 0.47 GW of solar power. Interestingly and as is sometimes the case, our 2011 solar energy investment contrasts sharply with a lag in deployment.

Read the executive summary or full report on the Pew Environment Group website.

Today TransCanada submitted a Presidential Permit application to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. The application includes the already reviewed route in Montana and South Dakota. The company will supplement the application with an alternative route in Nebraska as soon as that route is selected.

Last month, Nebraska passed legislation that will let TransCanada re-engage with Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality and continue to work collaboratively to develop an alternative route that avoids the Sand Hills region. Once the route is determined the Department will oversee the public review process – which is expected to take at least six to nine months. The revised route will then be submitted as part of the Presidential Permit application.

Federal governments on both sides of the border have called for changes that would help speed up infrastructure development through more efficient and effective permitting and review. Normally, a new application would trigger an new federal environmental impact study. But TransCanada contends that the only required review should be on the actual reroute itself.

Not all agree. Rest assured the need for jobs and energy security (in an election year) facing off against environmental opposition will continue to drive interest in this proposed project.