Edmonton, Alberta
September 30, 2003

Alberta’s oil and gas reserves may be shrinking, but an American biotech consultant says the province could still end up being a worldwide source of energy. Speaking at the annual general meeting for AVAC Ltd., James McLaren, president of Missouri-based StrathKirn Inc., said: “Within the foreseeable future, Alberta’s ‘emerging bio-infrasystems’ could become analogous to its highly evolved and complex hydrocarbon-based industry.”

An expert in developing, introducing and managing the commercial production of new technology, particularly biotechnology, McLaren told AVAC members, staff and guests that “biotechnology not only offers the base for new bio-resources as economically viable inputs and materials, but also holds the key to achieving sufficient resources in a sustainable manner, with a smaller anthropogenic footprint on the environment.”

“We’re already seeing tremendous interest and advancement in developing bio-energy in Alberta,” said Keith Jones, president and CEO of AVAC, a Calgary-based venture capital organization that’s helping accelerate the growth of agrivalue – secondary agricultural knowledge and production – in Alberta and Western Canada. “Businesses and researchers are testing and refining methods and technology to use products and byproducts such as canola and methane as clean, affordable and renewable sources of fuel.”

McLaren said the world as a whole has become over reliant on finite reserves of fossils fuels, which in turn has driven up prices and created political and economic instability and conflict. In addition, he said, “continued growth in fossil fuel use will drive further global atmospheric changes through net carbon emissions. A potential solution is to develop bio-based resources that may be produced on an annual, or renewable, basis.”

“We’re committed to helping find and commercialize renewable energy resources,” said Jones. “Alberta’s traditional sources of energy are slowly shrinking, although its energy infrastructure and the worldwide demand for energy continue to grow.” 

Recognizing the many opportunities associated with alternative energy, AVAC has invested several research and development projects related to bio-energy, bio-fuels and biolubricants. Most recently, AVAC supported three Albertans on a trip to Germany to examine opportunities to use canola-based lubricants in automobiles.