The Farm Stewardship Centre in Lethbridge is about to get a little greener.
Minister of Environment and Parks Shannon Phillips announced Friday the centre will receive $54,000 from the Climate Leadership Plan for energy efficiency upgrades.
It will include a 15-kilowatt solar photo-voltaic system and lighting upgrades to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’ve already made a number of investments in municipalities and will continue to do so,” Phillips said. “You’re going to see, economy-wide, the province reinvesting the carbon levy funds into projects that lower the costs, that create jobs and that will lower emissions.”
The Farm Stewardship Centre helps producers and other partners explore ways to care for the environment and make decisions related to environmental stewardship.
Phillips added there will be a number of new solar panel projects popping up around the province in the future, including a new residential solar program.
“What it means is that Alberta will be catching up in some ways to many American jurisdictions that have already moved forward with a lot of solar development,” Phillips said. “What it will do is create jobs and diversify the economy, and at the same time it will lower costs for businesses, for homeowners, for farmers, for indigenous communities, for cities and towns.”