In Vancouver, environmental business consultancy The GLOBE Foundation is spearheading the Pacific Green Energy Initiative (PGEI), a project to encourage the development of a manufacturing hub to produce clean energy and fuel international trade.

Backed by a consortium including the Hong Kongbased merchant bank the Baron Group, the National Research Council Canada, the B.C. Ministry of Energy, and the Cascadia Institute, the PGEI has formed a coalition with other B.C. interests including BC Hydro’s Powertech Labs to back a sustainability precinct in Vancouver’s False Creek area centred on a renewable energy micro-grid.

The initiative would enable about 30 clean energy developers and manufacturers to set up shop, showcase their technologies and use them for energy self-sufficiency and potential electricity sales to BC Hydro.

GLOBE spokesperson Keith McPherson says, “Ultimately, GLOBE would help promote the PGEI abroad to help its commercial tenants develop business.” He adds, the Baron Group is planning a $250-million Clean Energy Equity Fund that would invest in companies with good sales potential and link them to interests in China.

Presently, the project is seeking seed funding through a federal grant.