Ms Larson also credits her grandparents for encouraging in her a waste-not want-not mentality.

“My grandparents lived through The Depression. They were very thrifty and resourceful and did not tolerate waste. They instilled in me a strong appreciation for conservation and energy efficiency.”

These early lessons are evidenced in Ms Larson’s career achievements, which include:

• Leading the development and implementation of the British Columbia (BC) Climate Action Plan and the BC Bioenergy Strategy
• Participating in the development of the BC Clean Energy Fund
• Securing $A39 million to establish the BC Bioenergy Network

Bioenergy projects feature prominently in Ms Larson's CV, a result of the vast bioenergy resources available in her home province.

“BC is blessed with an abundance of biomass resources. Two-thirds of the province is covered in trees, and over half of Canada’s biomass power generation capacity exists in BC, primarily in the forestry sector, which produces heat and power for its own operations and also sells power into the provincial electricity grid.

“The province also has some world-leading technology developers and academic talent in the bioenergy space, so this powerful combination of resources and attributes makes bioenergy a key opportunity area for BC.”

While securing finance for and assisting in the development of renewable energy projects takes up a large portion of Ms Larson’s time, drumming up community support for these projects is also high on her to-do list.

“Setting a [community] vision for energy efficiency and conservation, clean energy and emission reductions is key,” says Ms Larson.

This can be achieved, Ms Larson explains, through government leadership and direction – exemplified in BC.

“The Provincial BC Government enshrined in legislation a commitment to make its government operations carbon-neutral by 2010, and challenged BC’s towns and cities to follow its lead. Around 180 local governments in BC have taken on the challenge and have signed on to the Community Climate Action Charter, pledging to make their own operations carbon neutral by 2012. There are also a number of federal and provincial government funding programs to help local governments with energy planning, feasibility studies, green infrastructure development, clean energy project development and other community initiatives.”

One of these community initiatives is to engage with BC’s First Nations contingent.

“BC’s First Nations are an important part of the social, economic and environmental fabric of the province, and many are very interested in clean energy development, but need additional support and capacity to participate.”

To facilitate First Nation participation, a portion of the BC Clean Energy Fund, along with other federal and provincial programs, is going towards expanding First Nations’ abilities to be part of, and benefit from, green energy and the green economy.

Despite the extent of her contributions toward making BC a less carbon intensive province, Ms Larson has concerns about the international energy landscape.

“Growing economies and a growing global population are directly linked to increasing energy consumption and demand,” she says.

“Additionally, when energy is relatively inexpensive, or when the environmental costs of energy production and use are not adequately accounted for, and, when existing technologies are not as energy efficient or pollution-minimising as they could be, we perhaps aren’t as careful about our energy use.”

This can be mitigated, Ms Larson suggests, by de-linking economic and population growth from energy consumption. This will occur as conventional energy resources increase in price, and as their supplies diminish. Assigning a monetary price to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions will also motivate energy conservation and further stimulate innovation in how energy is produced and consumed, says Ms Larson.

Headway is already being made in this regard.

“There have been improvements in solar technology, successful demonstrations of ocean wave and tidal energy systems, advances in bioenergy, significant growth in wind energy development, improvements in energy efficiency, green building design and technology and breakthroughs in lower-emission vehicle technologies.”

For Ms Larson there is a lot to be optimistic about. Already, the global clean energy industry has achieved great things – paramount is its collective progress, and increasing profile.

“This is an exciting industry attracting innovative, positive thinkers and generating innovative ideas. That, by any measure, is a great achievement.”