The RenuWell Project recently won the Environmental Excellence Award in the energy category at the 2024 Emerald Awards for their impressive achievements in promoting environmental stewardship in Alberta. RenuWell is a collaboration of seven organizations that repurposes inactive oil and gas sites for small-scale solar installations. Their approach utilizes existing infrastructure to reduce lease reclamation costs and minimize competition for arable land. Its pilot projects in the MD of Taber have a combined capacity of 1.45 MW, enough to power 300 homes or 90 irrigation systems, and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Eavor became the newest recipient of the prestigious Suzanne West Environmental Excellence Award, presented by the Global Energy Show 2024. The award commemorates the memory of Suzanne West, a Canadian visionary and energy leader, who championed environmental stewardship in the oil and gas industry. The award serves to recognize technologies or initiatives that aim to reduce environmental footprints and emissions in the energy industry. West’s entrepreneurial journey, marked by successful ventures in energy companies like Auriga Energy Inc., Black Shire Energy Inc., and Imaginea Energy Corp., underscored her mission to align the energy industry with sustainable business practices.

Eavor has recently joined the DHC+ Platform, advancing Next-Generation Geothermal energy within Europe’s district heating and cooling market. The DHC+ Platform, headquartered in Brussels, serves as Europe’s hub for research and innovation in district heating and cooling. It brings together over 60 stakeholders from academia, research, business, and industry to promote sustainable energy systems. As a leader in innovative geothermal technology, Eavor’s membership holds potential to contribute to the integration of cutting-edge clean energy technology for the continent, fostering local energy autonomy across multiple European countries.

Underground Ventures (UGV), a new investment firm specializing in geothermal tech platforms, launched with a $40 million fund that will focus on early-stage geothermal technology startups over the next 3-5 years. As geothermal startups grow globally, UGV Co-founder and CEO Torsten Kolind highlighted Eavor’s success as a prime example of how geothermal energy is overcoming traditional scalability limitations.

An article detailing the benefits geothermal energy has for Alberta emphasizes that despite its higher upfront costs, geothermal’s longevity and baseload capacity will yield greater returns. This not only benefits investors financially but also provides communities with reliable, clean power for generations. Mohammad Kiani, engineer and geochemist, argued that geothermal holds long-term vaiability compared to intermittent energy sources like wind and solar. These benefits include low operational and maintenence costs, reliable baseload capacity, low environmental impact, and a longer energy production lifespan.

Dr. Malcolm Ross, a geoscientist and lecturer at Rice University, as well as a Black Swan Detector at the University of Texas, discusses the historical hurdles that geothermal energy has faced and how closed-loop geothermal technology can overcome these challenges to achieve global scalability. Ross explains his journey through academia and the oil and gas industry, primarily how his career at Shell allowed him to utilize his geoscience expertise, such as plate tectonic modelling, and paleogeographic and paleoclimate modelling. Moreover, he explains how these skill sets benefitted him in transitioning to geothermal energy. He explains that he wanted to pursue an industry that had a positive impact while utilizing his geological skills.