Energy systems expert receives nearly $2M to help Canada reach net-zero emissions by 2050

Amit Kumar will lead two projects to create comprehensive energy forecasts and explore emerging technologies for CO2 removal.
January 29, 2025 By Geoff McMaster
Amit Kumar will lead two projects to create comprehensive energy forecasts and explore emerging technologies for CO2 removal.
University of Alberta energy researchers have received almost $2 million from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to help the country reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Amit Kumar — Canada Research Chair in Assessment of Energy Systems and deputy director of Future Energy Systems — and his team were awarded a total of $1.8 million by NRCan for two projects to assess the costs and environmental footprint of integrating a range of sustainable energy technologies into Canada’s energy transition over the next two decades.
“The key question in this transition is how to choose the environmentally friendly, economically viable and socially acceptable energy pathways,” says Kumar.
One of Kumar’s projects will use artificial intelligence, data mining and computer-based models to calculate short-, medium- and long-term energy forecasts, he says.
That modelling will consider the growth of various renewable options — including solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and hydro energy — in combination with non-renewable sources to help transition away from fossil fuels. The forecast will also account for the contributions of energy efficiency and carbon capture technology to the equation.