Dr. Clem Bowman, a resident of Sarnia, made his comments during a national bio-conversion workshop at the Univerity of Western Ontario Research Park, Sarnia-Lambton campus, last Friday.
"The chance to become a sustainable energy superpower is there for the taking," said Bowman, a former vice-president of research for Imperial Oil.
"No other nation has the capacity or the opportunity to do this," he added.
Bowman, who chairs a Canadian Academy of Engineers Energy Pathways Task Force on the issue, says a three-pronged approach is needed, including implementing clean coal technology, developing technology that will capture, store and use carbon dioxide and improving the electrical infrastructure from coast to coast.
"These projects will have the same impact as building the national railway or the St. Lawrence Seaway had in the past," he predicted.
But, Bowman is concerned that the political will is lacking to move the process forward in a timely fashion.
"We're great in Canada for studies, but now we've got to start to put steel in the ground and start building some of these new technologies and getting them demonstrated."
He says this country is at a crossroads and can either choose to be a leader or a follower in the global green marketplace.
Speaking to reporters, Bowman also came out in favour of the proposal by Shell to build a new heavy oil refinery near Courtright, saying we should keep the jobs and processing here instead of shipping them to the United States.
"If proper regulations are in place, I don't see it as an environmental problem." he concluded.
He said multi-national companies must come to grips with the idea that society is demanding that they spend additional dollars to ensure their environmental standards are kept as current as possible.
Bowman also said clean coal technology should be considered as an alternative to the provincial government's plan to close the Lambton Generating Station.
Early next month, Dr. Bowman will receive the Global Energy International Prize during a ceremony in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The honour, which is equivalent of a Nobel Prize for Energy, is for developing efficient technologies for extracting oil from oil shale and oil sands.
