Canada has emerged-through the work of entrepreneurial companies and industry-as a leader in innovative technologies that marry environment alstewardship with economic prosperity.

Clean technologies provide better environmental and economic performance,making economies more competitive,creating new market opportunities, driving productivity growth (Canada's central economic challenge), and protecting existing jobs while creating new jobs for skilled workers. These innovations are revolutionizing the industries at the heart of the Canadian economy, notably oil and gas,mining,forestry and agriculture.

Clean technologies are also having a direct impact on the lives of Canadians. Applications like smart grid and energyuse monitoring are reducing our hydro bills. Applications that manage indivi-dual lighting needs or provide natural light inside a building are creating a better workspace. Alternative transportation technologies have the potential to reduce our gas bills while, at an industrial-level, reducing customer costs for food and retail items in the longer term.

British Columbia is playing a leadership role in bringing these innovations to commercial reality. Looking at SDTC's portfolio alone,there are over 40 BC-based companies commercializing innovative technologies across all ma-jor sectors of the economy.

In the building sector, this means technologies like gasification systems that enable customers to self-generate clean, low cost heat and power using waste fuels. It also means solutions like an intelligent energy management platform that provides building owners and occupants with accurate and user friendly building energy and resource consumption information,significantly cutting energy bills.

BC-based companies have also come up with solutions to reduce the environmental impacts of the transportation sector,for example by developing technologies that allow engines to operate on clean-burning gaseous fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Finally,in the forestry sector,they have discovered ways to produce high-value added chemicals, such as lignin and glycols, from wood waste, thereby creating new revenue streams from waste and hence moving this mainly commodity-oriented industry up the value chain.

The development,adoption and diffusion of clean technologies throughout our economy is happening in real time, because firms and governments increasingly recognize this as essential to both environmental and economic performance. Canada, and British Columbia,are well-positioned for long term success in this cleantech revolution.

SOURCE: vancouversun.com