A federal advisory panel is calling for a "major, long-term" effort to develop sustainable energy science and technology, warning that failure to do so could have major economic repercussions for Canada.

"Canada's enormous wealth of energy resources is and will remain a key element of our prosperity and a major geopolitical advantage for the country," says the report released on Monday by the national advisory panel on sustainable energy science and technology.

"However, this wealth has made us complacent: It has masked major vulnerabilities that must be addressed, and unique opportunities that must be realized."

Unless immediate action is taken to bolster the country's energy capabilities, the economy could suffer as rising energy costs take their toll on productivity, warns the report entitled Powerful Connections: Priorities and Directions in Energy Science and Technology in Canada.

Developing a sustainable energy science and technology strategy could help offset those higher costs by achieving greater efficiency, it says.

The report also warns that unless Canada innovates — rather than buying innovative technologies — the country risks "becoming a branch plant economy in the energy sector known primarily for our raw resources rather than our ingenuity."

The panel recommends:

  • A minimum 10-year commitment by the public and private sectors to focus on and fund sustainable energy science and technology.
  • Federal and provincial governments should at least double investment in energy research and development within the next 10 years.
  • The federal government should provide $30 million to seed a private sector Canadian venture capital fund focused on energy technologies and continue to make such strategic investments.
  • Governments should consider regulation or financial incentives in commodity-based industries.
  • Canada should focus on developing technologies that complement natural advantages based on its energy resources.
  • Governments should work together to develop the market in a consistent manner and support both early-stage and commercial projects.

The panel said that the high-priority areas for energy science and technology development are those "where focused effort can address both public and private sector imperatives to achieve significantly greater benefits for Canadians."

These areas include bioenergy — using biological sources such as plants or agricultural waste for energy — and gasification, or turning fossil fuels and other carbon-based matter into energy.

The panel also recommended developing carbon dioxide capture and storage technology, which would help reduce the environmental impact of fossil fuels, and optimizing electricity transmission, distribution and storage.

Entrenching and building on Canadian fuel cell technology and expertise was also listed as a top priority.

The report further recommended that a major applied social science research program be launched in order to increase understanding of individual and organizational energy use and technology choices.

The panel expects that the results of the research could help explain how and why those choices are made, which could then be applied to focusing energy science and technology research.