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At Best Startup Canada we track over 100,000 Canadian startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top British Columbia based CEO’ operating in the Energy space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.ca.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Alex Wick
Founder/CEO of Cascadia Carbon
Alex Wick is a forester, data scientist and visionary, working at the intersection of climate change, carbon, cryptography, and coding. Living a conscious, low-carbon lifestyle since 2009.
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About Cascadia Carbon, Woodstock Chai: Building CODEX: A carbon-neutral blockchain cryptocurrency for carbon offset generation and storage
Christofer Mowry
CEO of General Fusion
Christofer M. Mowry has been Interim Chief Executive Officer and Interim President at General Synfuels International, Inc. since May 08, 2015. Mr. Mowry has 30 years of global experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors, including power, oil & gas, automation, and process industries. He served as the President of B&W Modular Nuclear Energy LLC (B&W Mne) at Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy Inc. since January 2012. He served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Generation mPower LLC from January 2012 to April 2014. He served as the President of Babcock & Wilcox Mpower, Inc. until April 13, 2014. He served as the President of Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy Inc. at The Babcock & Wilcox Company from June 2009 to January 2012. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of B&W Modular Nuclear Energy LLC at The Babcock & Wilcox Company. He served as the Chief Business Development Officer and Senior Vice President of Babcock & Wilcox company at McDermott International Inc. from August 2008 to June 2009. He served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Welding Services, Inc. (WSI) in Atlanta, Georgia from January 2005 to June 2008. He held several high-level management positions within GE Energy from June 1995 to January 2005 after spending 11 years with the utility PECO Energy. He joined the GE in 1995 as a Sales Executive in Stockholm, Sweden and subsequently as a Technical Services Program Manager for GE Nuclear Energy in San Jose, California. He served as the President of GE Reuter-Stokes in Cleveland, Ohio. He served as General Manager of GE Energy Management Systems in Atlanta, Georgia. He served as General Manager of GE Hydro Projects and Services in Oslo, Norway. He began his career with the Philadelphia Electric Company, holding positions of increasing responsibility in nuclear operations and engineering at the Limerick Generating Station. He serves as Chairman of the Board of SEV Group Limited since February 15, 2016. He serves as a Director of the Nuclear Energy Institute and Advanced Reactor Concepts, LLC. He served as a Director of Generation mPower LLC. Mr. Mowry holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Astronomy from Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
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About General Fusion: General Fusion develops utility-scale fusion power using magnetized target fusion.
Amir Adnani
President, Founder, Director & CEO of Uranium Energy
Mr. Adnani is a founder of Uranium Energy Corp and has been the President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director of the Company since January 2005. He serves as a spokesman for the uranium industry before all international media, and is frequently invited to speak before major industry gatherings including the Milken Institute Global Conference and the World Nuclear Fuel Conference. He is recognized by Casey Research, a leading investment advisory publisher, as a top-ten leading mining industry entrepreneur and executive. Mr. Adnani is an entrepreneur with a background in business development and marketing. In 2004, he founded Blender Media Inc. where he served as the President and a director until 2006. Blender Media is a strategic communications firm for public companies, and in 2005, was named one of the fastest growing companies in Canada by Profit magazine. He is also a founder and the Chairman of Brazil Resources Inc., a gold exploration company listed on the TSX-Venture Exchange with projects in the gold districts of Brazil. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of British Columbia, and serves on the university’s Alumni Advisory Board.
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About Goldmining Inc, Uranium Energy, Uranium Royalty: Uranium Energy specializes in acquiring exploration databases and leveraging those databases to generate acquisition.
Randy MacEwen
President & CEO of Ballard Power Systems
Mr. MacEwen has been the President & CEO and a member of the board of directors of Ballard since October 2014. He has held executive roles in clean energy companies for over 15 years, including in fuel cells and solar. From 2009 to 2014, Mr. MacEwen was Founder and Managing Director of NextCleanTech LLC, a cleantech consulting firm. From 2005 to 2009, Mr. MacEwen served as President & CEO of Solar Integrated Technologies, Inc., a commercial rooftop solar company. From 2001 to 2005, he served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development of Stuart Energy Systems Corporation, a leading supplier hydrogen generation systems. Mr. MacEwen began his career as a corporate associate at Torys LLP, a leading business law firm, where he specialized in M&A and corporate finance from 1995 to 2001. Mr. MacEwen holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hon) degree from York University and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Western Ontario.
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About Ballard Power Systems: Ballard Power Systems develops and sells hydrogen fuel cell products primarily in United States, Canada, Japan and Germany.
Jimmy S. H. Lee
Founder, Chairman and CEO of Mercer International
Mr. Jimmy S. H. Lee is Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer of Mercer International Inc. Previously, during the period that MFC Bancorp Ltd. was our affiliate, he served as a director from 1986 and President from 1988 to December 1996 when it was spun out. Mr. Lee was also a director of Quinsam Capital Corp. from March 2004 to November 2007 and Fortress Paper Ltd. from August 2006 to April 2008. During Mr. Lee’s tenure with Mercer, we acquired the Rosenthal mill and converted it to the production of kraft pulp, constructed and commenced operations at the Stendal mill and acquired the Celgar mill. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
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About Mercer International: Mercer International operates as a pulp business and produces NBSK market pulp.
Brent Perry
CEO of Plan B Energy Storage
Brent Perry is a leader in energy solutions for the commercial marine and industrial sectors. Brent has personally been involved in most of the hybrid and electric ferry projects on the water today. A thought leader for the industries he works in, Brent speaks at numerous climate and energy conferences including: United Nations COP21, ENOVA, and ZERO and is a Special Adviser to the Chinese Government for Energy Policy.
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About Plan B Energy Storage: Plan B Energy Storage manufactures high power energy storage systems.
James Riley
CEO of Lightspark
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About Lightspark: Lightspark is software company that provides SaaS based engagement, e-commerce and rebate management tools to make energy efficiency easier.
Steve Oldham
CEO of Carbon Engineering
Steve Oldham serves as CE’s CEO. Steve brings more than 20 years of executive experience to CE’s team, stemming from previous roles in technology, robotics, and aerospace sectors. Steve served as Senior Vice President, Strategic Business Development for MDA, a leading Canadian technology firm. At MDA, Steve held a variety of senior executive positions across Canada and the US, covering General Management, Business Development, and Strategy. He has secured financing from Government and commercial sources for a variety of complex technologies, including several large satellite programs. Steve holds a bachelor of science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Birmingham in England.
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About Carbon Engineering, Maxar Technologies: Carbon Engineering is a clean energy company.
Jessica L. McDonald
President & Chief Executive Officer of BC Hydro
Jessica is President and CEO of BC Hydro, a clean energy utility. The corporation generates $5.5 billion in annual revenues and is currently investing in an unprecedented capital program of refurbishment and expansion of its electricity assets, spending an average of $2 billion per year for the next 20 years, including the development of the $8.3 billion Site C hydropower project. As part of a new focus on customer service and employee engagement, Jessica led a brand, vision and values refresh at BC Hydro resulting in the company being named in 2016 as the #1 most influential brand in BC, as well as being named by Forbes as Canada’s #1 employer.
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About BC Hydro: The BC Hydro and Power Authority is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia.
Michael Heaven
Chairman of the Board, CEO of Aurora Solar Technologies
Mike Heaven chairs the Board of Directors and is the company’s CEO. He is also a co-founder of the company. Mike has had over 20 years experience in the development and application of measurement and control technology to a variety of industries. He has published extensively in the field of industrial measurement and process control and holds eleven patents in this area. His extensive in-depth experience in this field is particularly pertinent to the role Aurora is playing in the solar energy industry. As General Manager for PT Papertech Inc. from 2003 to 2008, Mr. Heaven drove the development and delivery of innovative machine vision systems for in-line process monitoring and optimization in paper, tissue and steelmaking. Prior to Papertech, he was Chief Operating Officer of Norsat International Inc. (TSX: NII, NASDAQ: NSATF), a company providing ground station equipment for satellite communications. Before Norsat, Mike spent 13 years with Honeywell in various senior engineering and marketing roles. Prior to Honeywell, he spent five years in the steel industry, responsible for Dofasco’s Hot Strip Flatness and Profile Control program. Mr. Heaven holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from McMaster University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the Provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, Canada. He also holds an MBA from Queen’s University.
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About Aurora Solar Technologies: Aurora Solar Technologies develops and markets Production Measurement and Control systems.
Leigh Curyer
President, Director & Chief Executive Officer of NexGen Energy
Curyer has over 20 years experience in the resources and corporate sector. Mr. Curyer is the founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of NexGen Energy Ltd. and was previously the Chief Financial Officer and head of corporate development of Southern Cross Resources (now Uranium One). In addition, for three years Mr. Curyer was Head of Corporate Development for Accord Nuclear Resource Management assessing uranium projects worldwide for First Reserve Corporation, a global energy — focused private equity and infrastructure investment firm. Mr. Curyer’s uranium project assessment experience has been focused on assets located in Canada, Australia, USA, Africa, Central Asia and Europe, incorporating operating mines, advanced development projects and exploration prospects. While Chief Financial Officer of Southern Cross Resources (now Uranium One), Mr. Curyer managed the exploration, permitting and feasibility study of the Honeymoon Uranium Project in South Australia, ensuring full compliance with NI43-101 reporting. Mr Curyer has raised over $500 million of equity in North America, US, Europe and Australia. Mr. Curyer is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia.
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About International Consolidated Uranium, IsoEnergy, NexGen Energy: NexGen Energy Ltd is a Canadian based uranium exploration and development company established by Tigers Realm Group.
Karn Manhas
Founder, CEO of Terramera
Founder & CEO of Terramera, Karn is an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in leadership roles in government, project management, community and business development. Karn is responsible for the vision and strategic direction of Terramera, and raised over $30M to build, scale and execute on that plan. He is a frequent speaker on issues of sustainability, making clean food affordable, feeding the world and building innovative organizations, including at TEDx and Singularity University in Vancouver. Karn has lead several companies and has a diverse set of experiences including being elected the youngest Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Province of British Columbia. He is a member of YPO, and in 2012 was named one of Business in Vancouver’s top Forty Under 40 businesspeople. Karn holds a Juris Doctor in Law from the University of British Columbia and a B.Sc. in Biology (Genetics) and Biotechnology from McGill University.
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About Terramera: Terramera provides intelligence developing safer, more effective plant-based replacements to synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
John Lando
CEO, President & Secretary/Director of New World Resource
Mr. Lando has more than 20 years of experience working in the equity markets and managing and financing public companies. He has worked for RBC Dominion Securities and has served as a Director of several public companies. Mr. Lando is also the CEO and President of Northern Lion Gold and Nano One Materials Corp.
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About New World Resource: A New Age Of Mineral Exploration In The Americas.
Stephen Robinson
CEO of DarkVision Technologies
Stephen Robinson founded ClearVision in 2005 at UBC and grew it to 25 people before it was successfully acquired by its largest US competitor in 2011. ClearVision developed imaging technologies for consumer packaging with sales across the US and Europe, eventually inspecting all the boxes for P&G, Molson, Kimberly Clark etc. Robinson became a BIV 40 under 40 in 2013 for his role in leading ClearVision from start to finish.
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About DarkVision Technologies: New ultrasound-based imaging technology for delivering ultra-high resolution 3D models of oil and gas wells.
Mischa Steiner-Jovic
CEO of Awesense
Mischa’s product development and management experience in the embedded electronics, wireless, and software industries was honed at organizations such as ECO Fuel Systems, Newpoint Thermal and the Okanagan Research & Innovation Centre. Mischa is a frequent speaker and panelist at industry conferences, university programs and government events on the smart grid and the innovation potential of technology to transform business and society. He represented Awesense as a voting and participating member during the inception of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) led by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and an active volunteer at Science World to encourage school children to pursue careers in math, science, and engineering. Mischa holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Victoria and Wireless, Electronics, Engineering Technology from the British Columbia Institute of Technology after leaving a Ph.D path at Simon Fraser University in Mathematics.
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About Awesense: Awesense drives the decentralized and decarbonized future of energy with their Digital Energy Platform and Open Energy Data Model.
Trevor Burgess
CEO, Co-Founder, Director of VoltSafe Inc.
CEO – VoltSafe Inc.
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About VoltSafe Inc.: Fearless creators, changing how people connect to electricity using magnets. Simply put, we’ve patented a better way to connect to power.
Matt Wayrynen
CEO, COO & Board of Directors of Solar Flow-Through
Mr. Wayrynen provides experience in resource company management, venture capital, startup financing, and mergers and acquisitions. He is an original co-founder and former President and CEO of TrichoScience Innovations Inc., which became Replicel Life Sciences Inc. As a director of Quinto Mining, he helped raise millions of dollars and advanced a Quebec iron ore property to a viable project. Quinto sold to Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines in June 2008 for a share value equal to $175 million. (Consolidated Thompson was eventually sold to Cliffs Resources for $4.9 billion). Mr. Wayrynen has also been involved in the evaluation of investment opportunities in solar projects in Italy. He was formerly active in the real estate industry as a licensed salesman and licensed agent nominee in charge of real estate for multiple retail projects throughout the greater Vancouver area. In addition, he was a licensed securities professional for over 10 years. Currently, he is also a director of several publicly-listed resource companies.
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About Solar Flow-Through, WestKam Gold: Solar Flow-Through develops and operates solar PV power generation projects in Ontario, Canada.
Bill Haberlin
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ionomr
Bill is Ionomr’s CEO, having joined to take Ionomr’s world-class technology into volume production, assist in customer base transition from successful evaluation to volume production, and raise financing to achieve company objectives. He processes a deep understanding of B2B global sales and organization, strategies to break into established supply chains with innovative new components, business to business contract negotiation, and experience with business culture in Asia, Europe and North America. His internal management expertise includes a proven ability to grow and maintain high-performance teams and dealing with the issues with scaling production to high volume while maintaining quality and minimizing cost. Previously, COO & VP of Sales at SiGe Semiconductor for over a decade, he was a key player in the growth of the company from a research spinout of Canada’s National Research Council to a successful growth company which exited for $280M just prior to IPO. Bill help lead investment activities at both SiGe and NGD to raise more than $140M USD with VC’s located in US, Canada, China, Korea, Japan and the UK. He has over 25 years of industry experience and has built a good appreciation for all aspects of corporate matters required at Ionomr with previous employment at NGD Systems, Phenix Consulting, SiGe Semiconductor, Zarlink and Plessey Semiconductor. He has lived and worked in globally during his career including 15 years in Asia and possess extensive experience working with OEM customers and manufacturing partners in Asia, North and Europe.
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About Ionomr: Ionomr makes Aemion™ & Pemion™, next-gen ion-exchange materials for breakthrough clean technology applications involving electrochemistry.
Ash Esmaeili
Co-founder & CEO of Aimsio
Afshin is a passionate computer scientist and researcher with focus on innovation where science and technology meet. He has years of experience in implementing heuristic optimizations and highly interactive multi-agent systems. As a Principal Researcher at the University of Calgary, he lead a team of developers in creating state of art visualizations. As an entrepreneur he was involved in development of a recommendation system for a small startup company where he pursued lean startup concepts. In 2013, Afshin co-founded InVistaWare.
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About Aimsio: Aimsio improves managerial, operational, and financial processes by strengthening communications between the office and the job site.
Jordan Trimble
Director, President & CEO of Skyharbour Resources
Jordan Trimble is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Skyharbour Resources. Mr. Trimble holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Minor in Commerce from UBC and he is a CFA® charterholder. He has worked in the resource industry in various roles with numerous TSX Venture listed companies specializing in corporate finance and strategy, shareholder communications, marketing, deal structuring and capital raising. Mr. Trimble has an extensive network of institutional and retail investors as well as resource industry professionals bringing valuable relationships to the Company. He has appeared on BNN several times and has given presentations at numerous resource conferences across North America. Mr. Trimble has completed the Canadian Securities Course and Technical Analysis Course offered through CSI as well as several geology, exploration and mining courses.
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About Rockridge Resources, Skyharbour Resources: Skyharbour Resources (TSX-V: SYH) is a uranium and thorium exploration company.
Ian McAvoy
Founder, President & CEO of Thomson Power
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About Thomson Power: Thomson Power develops and supplies sustainable energy software and power management systems.
Slawek Smulewicz
CEO & Director of MicroCoal
Mr. Smulewicz has been the acting CEO of MicroCoal® Technologies Inc.. since June 2011. He operated as Vice President of Carbon Friendly Solutions Inc. from 2008 until his appointment as CEO; he is also a director of the Company since 2008. Mr. Smulewicz has served on the Board of several European private companies in consulting, IT and construction industries; especially during the start-up phase or restructuring processes. From 2006 until 2009, he led a successful remedial process, completing the financing of over 50 million PLN for a European private company. In 2001, he founded BDSG Grupa Finansowa Sp. z o. o., where he acted as CEO and Director until 2008. In 1998, he co-founded Internetowy Instytut Infomacji 3i Sp. z o. o. where he acted as CEO and Director until 2001. Mr. Smulewicz was an advisor to Vice Marshal of Presidium of The Sejm of The Republic of Poland (Polish Parliament) in 1998 and received his license as a broker of Warsaw Exchange (WGT S.A.), Poland in 1995. He has a M.Sc. in Agriculture & Business Administration from the Warsaw University of Life Science (SGGW) in Warsaw, Poland.
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About G2 Technologies Corp., MicroCoal: MicroCoal focuses on providing clean-coal upgrading technology that reduces contaminants in coal resulting in upgraded energy content.
Luquman Shaheen
President, CEO, Director of Panoro Minerals
Mr. Shaheen has an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters degree in Business Administration. He has over 22 years of experience in the international mining sector with over 17 years dedicated to the development of mineral projects in Peru and Latin America. Mr. Shaheen resided in Peru from 1996 until 2001, is fluent in Spanish and English, very knowledgeable of the Peruvian mining sector and the social, environmental and business issues of this important mineral producing nation.
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About Panoro Minerals: Panoro Minerals Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company with a strategic focus on exploring and advancing.
Edward Chiang
Co-Founder & CEO of Moment Energy
Edward Chiang is the Co-Founder & CEO at Moment Energy.
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About Moment Energy: Moment Energy is a start-up striving to provide greater access to renewable and reliable energy storage.
Paul Gill
CEO of Lomiko Metals and Technologies
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About Lomiko Metals and Technologies, Lomiko Metals and Technologies: Lomiko Metals focuses on the exploration and development of minerals for the new green economy such a lithium and graphite.
Henk Alphen
President & CEO of Cardero Resource
Henk has had a successful career in the mining business for over 25 years. Since 1999 Henk has been a Director of Cardero Resource Corp and was instrumental in establishing the Cardero Group of Companies. Henk holds senior management and director positions with several resource exploration and development companies. Henk has raised over $200 million for mining exploration and his leadership, knowledge and access to capital are an invaluable asset to the company. Since founding the Company in 1999, Henk has created significant value for shareholders, not least through acquisition of undervalued projects like Pampa de Pongo, which was acquired for less than $1 million six years before it was sold for $100 million. Henk will continue to focus on corporate strategic initiatives for Cardero.
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About Cardero Resource, Wealth Minerals: Cardero Resource is a resource company focused on building a base metals exploration and development company.
Benjamin Jones
Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of Canada Energy Partners
Mr. Benjamin M. Jones has been involved in the oil and gas industry in North America since 1977. Mr. Jones worked for Placid Oil Company in Dallas, Texas from 1977 to 1981 as an exploitation engineer. In 1981, Mr. Jones became an independent explorationist, screening, generating, and promoting drilling prospects on the eastern shelf of the Permian Basin of West Central Texas. In 1986, Mr. Jones shifted his focus to the Gulf Coast Basin and toward raising drilling funds and investing in drilling prospects. In 1988, Mr. Jones partnered with John R. Howard in a merger of drilling funds and served as Exploration Manager for Carrollton Resources from 1988 to 1997. During this time, Carrollton participated in several hundred drilling wells and operated numerous properties. Carrollton Resources completed a stock merger into Titan Exploration Inc., a public exploration company, in 1997. Mr. Jones was engaged as the Gulf Coast Exploration Manager from 1997 to 1999. In 2000, Mr. Jones redirected his efforts to pursue coalbed methane projects and raised private equity to fund this pursuit. He is the founder of the Company’s Peace River Project in British Columbia. Mr. Jones graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering and also holds a Masters Degree in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary.
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About Canada Energy Partners: Canada Energy Partners is an emerging Canadian natural gas exploration and development company.
Mark Rabin
CEO co-founder of Zolair Energy
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About Zolair Energy: Zolair is a micro-electric utility providing clean, affordable energy solutions for the developing world.
Ron Klopfer
CEO of Etalim
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About Etalim: Distributed micro power generation for homes, automobiles and remote industial sites using thermoacoustic physics.
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