Advancing Canada’s Low-Carbon Hydrogen Workforce

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Moderator: Malcolm Bruce, Edmonton Global
Presenter: Pat Hufnagel-Smith, Creative Links International

Canada’s hydrogen industry already employs a workforce that knows how to produce, handle and use hydrogen safely at industrial scale. Developing a low-carbon hydrogen economy will drive additional quality employment opportunities. It will also contribute to sustaining employment for workers involved in high-emitting industries by offering these sectors a pathway to sustainability and achieving net zero through decarbonization.

However, a well-functioning hydrogen workforce won’t happen automatically. If workforce transition, development, attraction and retention is not managed well during the acceleration of the hydrogen economy, competition for talent can escalate wages and overall labour costs.

Moderated by Edmonton Global CEO Malcolm Bruce and featuring a presentation from Pat Hufnagel-Smith, this webinar offers insights into the workforce required to advance Canada’s hydrogen economy and the opportunities to leverage skilled and available labour and the degree to which an additional workforce must be developed. It also introduces the Hydrogen Workforce Assessment Tool that presents a detailed assessment of the occupations required for each value chain involved in the low-carbon hydrogen economy. A Q&A session follows.

Previous Webinars

Case Study: Hydrogen Fuel Cells in Port Trucking Operations

The Port of Los Angeles, in conjunction with Kenworth Truck Company, Toyota, Shell, and others , recently demonstrated a collaborative zero-emission goods movement project focused on the use of hydrogen fuel cells in heavy-duty trucks for port service. The project exhibited supply chain transport from “Shore to Store” utilizing zero-emission advanced technology. The Shore to Store project is funded with a $41,122,260 grant from the California Air Resources Board and an additional $41,426,612 in matching contributions from project partners. The presentation will discuss the project results and showcase the potential of hydrogen as a zero-emissions fuel platform for heavy-duty goods movement.

Transitioning transportation to net-zero emissions

This presentation will begin with a high level assessment of the net-zero solutions for Canada’s transportation sector, with a focus on the role that hydrogen could play. A case study will be presented for the transition to net-zero of Alberta’s heavy duty road freight sector.

A Year Later: Advancing the Hydrogen Workforce for Edmonton Region’s Hydrogen Hub

It’s been almost a year since the Transition Accelerator released Pat Hufnagel-Smith’s report, Assessing the Workforce Required to Advance Canada’s Hydrogen Economy. This webinar take a closer look at the work done since then to ensure that the workforce to enable the region’s future hydrogen economy will be available as it’s needed.

Hydrogen For Heavy-Duty Long Haul

This webinar focuses on using hydrogen-based power trains for heavy-duty Class 8 long-haul freight routes pulling van trailers, including a range of fuel cell battery electric types and internal combustion engines (ICE) based on the diesel cycle.