Alberta can use green technology to reduce its dependence on coal-fired plants to supply electricity within 20 years, according to a new report from the Pembina Institute released Wednesday.

"We confirmed … that Alberta has a huge potential to clean up its electricity supply," said Tim Weis, the Pembina Institute's director of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

"If we really so chose, in the next 20 years we could really green our grid and move towards a much more sustainable future."

The report makes suggestions based on two courses of action: the "pale green" and "green" scenarios.

The "pale green" scenario would have the province meet all new growth in the province's electrical needs by using renewable technology and energy efficiency.

"But it doesn't really tackle the existing problem of having all these existing dirty-coal plants," Weis said.

The "green" scenario is more aggressive. It would have Alberta relying on renewable energy sources to meet 70 per cent of all its electricity needs.

"We're not actually saying what scenario we actually should be following," Weis said.

"But we just wanted to find out … is this is possible, is this technically doable? And we found that it is."

The province's power needs could be met by using technology like wind power and biogas plants, the report suggested.

"I think it's high time that Alberta started thinking about diversifying and moving into long-term sustainability using some of the money that we're collecting off these non-renewable resources," Weis said.