Emissions Reduction Alberta’s new challenge focuses on the ag and forestry industries
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Members of Alberta’s agriculture and forestry industries can access new cost-share funding to support innovative ways to reduce emissions, use resources more efficiently and grow production.
Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) recently launched a Food, Farming and Forestry Challenge that’s funded through the provincial government’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund. This fund encourages industrial facilities to find new ways to reduce emissions.
Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions staff are please with the challenge program, which received $40 million from the TIER fund, said Shannon Sereda. She’s the government relations and policy manager for the commissions.
“We have long advocated for some sort of dedicated funding towards agriculture,” she told Farms.com. We advocate for it “because we recognize that our farmers have a role to play in emissions reduction.”
ERA staff encourage anyone involved in ag or forestry to submit a proposal for the challenge. A successful project could receive up to $5 million in funding and up to 50 per cent of the total cost of the project.
“It's definitely created a buzz across our sector. We've been putting our heads together to think about how this might align with some of our ongoing priorities,” said Sereda.
This challenge is also a good opportunity for producers to try new technologies, she said.
“A program like this could maybe help a producer or group of producers pilot an innovation so that they can understand what the return on investment is and how it will perform within their operations without having to bear the cost individually,” said Sereda.
If producers have project in mind, the commissions’ staff can support them through the application process, said Sereda.
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