Local entrepreneur Byron Tenkink's Lily Plain Produce takes full advantage of solar energy. He figures it'll save him close to $2 million over 25 years. (submitted photo/Byron Tenkink) 

By Glenn Hicks

clean economy

Big money to be made in cleaner economy

Dec 10, 2019 | 5:00 PM

There are serious financial returns to be made across Canada in investing in a low carbon economy, and business and organizational leaders want governments to hear that message. It’s also a message that is being fully embraced by a Prince Albert company.

The Smart Prosperity Leaders’ Initiative was launched by business leaders, think tanks, labour, Indigenous Peoples and youth. They’ve sent a letter to the Prime Minister and Premiers calling for much bigger investment in a cleaner economy.

Call to ramp up efforts

“Climate action is potentially a very lucrative opportunity for this country,” Communications Director Eric Campbell told paNOW. “There’s a global marketplace for clean solutions that is expected to grow to US$26 trillion and create 65 million new jobs [by 2030] around the world.”

Campbell pointed to how unique it was to see 26 CEOs and civil society leaders on the same page as signatories of the letter- from oil, gas and mining companies like Shell and Teck Resources, to firms like the Royal Bank of Canada, and an NGO like the Youth Climate Lab.

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Among the eight key measures the group wants governments to implement is to build infrastructure for a low carbon future, use procurement to drive clean innovations, give tax incentives, provide education and skills, and design a sector-by-sector road map to a clean economy.

While Saskatchewan has been labelled by some as a laggard in the fight to combat climate change, Campbell said this province had much to share regarding smart agriculture, carbon capture, and geo-thermal.

“[Saskatchewan] has made investments that have positioned it as a leader and expert in technologies that the world is going to want to buy more of,” he said.

Sold on solar

A Prince Albert entrepreneur who has seen his move to cleaner solutions generate big economic opportunities is Byron Tenkink, who runs Lily Plain Produce. He grows basil, mint and micro-greens year-round for Co-Op, Safeway, and Sobeys in Prince Albert and Saskatoon.

“So much of the debate around climate change views the need to change as a punishment, like we need to get off carbon or else, [but] I see the opportunities,” Tenkink said.

Solar benefits: Tenkink says clean energy helps make his business money and without it it would be “dead in the water.” (submitted photo/ Byron Tenkink)

He explained there were better products coming out all the time that are inspired by the need for change, the market was responding favourably to them, and “there is serious money to be made off being smart about the realities of our environment and how it impacts our economy.”

Tenkink said he had solar panels installed the last year and, combined with LED lighting, he saves big dollars.

“Over a 25-year period – which is the warranty for these solar panels – my costs for electricity alone went from $2 million to $55,000. That represents a 97 per cent reduction in cost, without which my business is dead in the water.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow