It was around the year 2000, and I decided to dedicate the balance of my business career to sustainability. Back then, sustainability wasn’t a common lexicon in the business world, so I had lots of work to do to shape a space and launch the final road in my career.

At the time of my epiphany, I was in the transportation sector, I stayed there, but I shifted gears. I began the promotion of decarbonizing on-road vehicles — HEV, PHEV, and EV — all in the commercial classifications. However, the knowledge gained through development and application was second to none. Many naysayers then and even today said, “I was beating a dead horse.”

In 2005, while holding down a job, Al Cormier and I founded Electric Mobility Canada, and to this day, I remain Founding Chair. For seven years as Chair, we tried to get things rolling, and we had some wins, including the green license plate program in Ontario, the Commercial HEV incentive program, and a few others. Still, our crowning achievement was the 2009 Electric Vehicle Technology Roadmap (EVTRM) for Canada. So let’s take a ride on the roadmap.

The EVTRM vision was simple — 500,000 plug-in capable four-wheeled vehicles on the roads of Canada by 2018. A tall order perhaps, but we failed to meet it. Why? The simple answer is that people fight change.

Regardless of empirical evidence, we somehow think it won’t affect us, which is so wrong and very selfish. Behaviour change can be a good thing, and the old saying of teaching an old dog new tricks is also fulfilling when the new trick makes the world a better place.

My objective is to point out the beauty of driving electric and to let all of you know that if you’re getting into this space, you need to be authentic and true — drive an EV, learn what it’s like to have a vehicle that allows you to fill up at home, to venture out, and drive saving the world, it’s invigorating.

So, you say, “hmm, but the charging takes too long,” true, but that will change and has changed since I drove my first electric vehicle in 2007, the Transit Connect Electric; we plugged it into the wall for almost three days and got 120 kilometres of range at best. Today, I plug in my IONIQ 5 for five hours at a Level 2 charge of 7.7 kilowatts, and I’m rewarded with a range of anywhere from 450–550 Km, depending upon the time of year. Ah yes, the next objection — reduced range in the colder months, correct? No different than the internal combustion engines (ICE) vehicles, but this is not something our behaviours identify because we’re conditioned to see the end of our nose and sometimes no further.

Let’s spend a moment on charging. This is the largest piece of the puzzle. The vehicles are coming, so how do we change the technology and not disturb our comfortable way of life, even if it is very expensive? Home charging is a gift, destination charging is evolving, and HUBS will soon become part of the solution. The formula for success is to build out a place that offers value and the ability to charge and “chill,” as well as a new solution for those who do not want to own any vehicle. HUBS for storage of EVs, as well as having other amenities, will transcend the market. What does this mean, and why is it so vague? Simple again, they don’t exist as we sit here today, but they are coming, and yes, the naysayers persist.

We must change to evolve; the buggy whip and the blacksmith all went away, and so will much of what we know today when it comes to the traditional service station. EV drivers and people, in general, will adopt things that are made to improve their lives and life in general. So as HUBS appear and the ability to charge in less than 15 minutes is an option, driving from Toronto to wherever in an EV will be easy. Right now, it is completely doable, but you must plan your trip if you own an EV. As Energy Hubs become commonplace, the shift to electric or sustainable transportation will help bring many to a cleaner, decarbonized form of mobility. 

I have been an advocate for Electric Vehicles and am optimistic about the future of electric traction on and off roads. If you are jumping into the space because you believe in it, then you need to become part of the solution and drive electric. We require change-makers in the world today, and starting in a positive way will help in a much larger way. One person who changes will impact many.

The post Make the Move to EV and Change the World appeared first on HiveInnovates.

As communities around the globe experience a seemingly endless and worsening stream of climate-related disasters, the urgent need for innovative climate solutions has become all too clear. But there’s hope.

As communities around the globe experience a seemingly endless and worsening stream of climate-related disasters, the urgent need for innovative climate solutions has become all too clear. But there’s hope. Canadian innovators are stepping up to the challenge, and international investors, customers, and industry partners should start turning their attention to powerhouse cleantech ventures like those on Foresight Canada’s recently released Foresight 50 list.

This second annual Foresight 50 list recognizes Canada’s 50 most investable cleantech ventures that are moving the needle to net zero. From direct lithium extraction to the treatment of industrial wastewater to climate-positive fertilizers, the Foresight 50 ventures span critical sectors like energy, water, agriculture, built environment, transportation, carbon capture, natural resources, and more. We’re certain they’re going to change the world.

Why we’re so confident

As Canada’s cleantech accelerator, Foresight has been supporting entrepreneurs in their journey from ideation to commercialization since 2013. We have supported almost 900 Canadian cleantech ventures that have gone on to create more than 7,150 green jobs, raise over $1.3 billion in capital support, and generate more than $2 billion in economic impact.

Our team has a front-row seat to the development of ground-breaking cleantech solutions and has been working with brilliant innovators long enough to know that Canada is set to become a cleantech leader on the global stage.

This year’s Foresight 50 were selected from over 150 impressive applications by a panel of independent investors and cleantech community partners based on criteria including potential environmental impact, overall investability, and probability of success. Narrowing down the list was no easy task, but by looking at these 50 ventures alone, it is clear that Canada has the skills, expertise, and motivation to lead the global transition to a green economy.

The main barrier to growth

To scale their critical climate solutions, Canadian cleantech ventures need more access to capital, both domestically and internationally. In a 2021 national survey, Canadian cleantech innovators identified raising capital as one of their main barriers to growth. To attract this capital, companies need to gain the attention of international investors with the resources to propel their ventures forward.

The Foresight 50 initiative bridges this gap by bringing attention to Canada’s most promising cleantech ventures while directly connecting these companies with potential investors, customers, and partners. 2021 Foresight 50 ventures raised $593 million to amplify their solutions. The 2022 Foresight 50 have already secured over 100 investor meetings, with more activities planned in early 2023 to further grow their impact.

By fostering meaningful relationships with key stakeholders, Foresight 50 ventures are gaining the traction they need to raise more capital, scale their climate solutions faster, and lead the green transition.

Big solutions equal big returns

The climate crisis is perhaps the single greatest challenge the world is facing today. Investing in and deploying cleantech solutions is not just an opportunity; it’s a necessity — and for those who recognize the critical nature of these climate solutions, there is potential for immense gain. Canada’s cleantech sector remains undercapitalized compared to other markets, providing exceptional opportunities for lead investors and early movers ready to deploy capital.

Recent studies have shown that Canada is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, and globally we see the effects of climate change increasingly in our daily lives. Therefore, it’s critical that we collectively prioritize accelerating the innovative solutions that can mitigate the worst effects of climate change.

The Foresight 50 is a great place for international investors, customers, and industry partners to start investing in Canadian cleantech. And for the average consumer, there’s the opportunity to invest with your dollars in environmentally conscious Canadian goods and services. With more access to capital, Canadian cleantech solutions could mitigate the worst effects of climate change and create a more livable future for generations to come, and that’s a future we can’t wait to see.

The post Canadian Cleantech: The Next Great Investment Opportunity appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Within the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, which list fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, clean technology is just as needed for success

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emerged in 2015 from an urgent call to action by all nations in global partnership to create a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” through the United Nations General Assembly. Ending poverty, forming strategies to improve health and education, reducing inequality, and preserving nature and biodiversity are all included in these Global Goals. While extraordinarily ambitious, the difficulty behind achieving said goals also emerged from the additional goal to see them reached by the year 2030. To those following the global progress so far, it should come as no surprise to read that clean technology has become fundamental for the implementation of each solution and is further developing into the cornerstone of similar sustainability frameworks in support of the 2030 agenda.

Within the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, which list fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, clean technology is just as needed for success. On Principle Nine: Environment, as defined in Agenda 21 of the Rio Declaration, clean technologies “should protect the environment, are less polluting, use all resources in a more sustainable manner, recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle residual wastes in a more acceptable manner than the technologies for which they were substitutes.” Clear upsides, such as the reduction of raw material used for increased resource efficiency, the emergence of new business opportunities via innovation, and even an increase in energy and cost efficiency, have been observed within companies utilizing cleantech. The economic and environmental impacts allow businesses to benefit across the long term and the planet as well.

The UN Global Compact Network Canada further explores these concepts within its webinar series, Raising Corporate Ambition for Environmental Sustainability: Canada’s Road to COP27, and particularly in the episode titled Climate Change & Technology: Shifting Mindsets towards Innovation Adoption. Canadian businesses champion clean technology in stunning ways elaborated by foremost experts, including Tom Chervinsky, Head of External Affairs and Social Capitalism, Public Policy Team at TELUS; Louis-Philippe Gagné, Manager of the Net-Zero Challenge at Environment and Climate Change Canada; Namit Nath Bhargava, Market Unit Lead of Canada Sustainability Services at Accenture; and Paige Whitehead, the CEO and Co-founder of Nyoka.

This session highlights prominent corporate, start-up, and government leaders’ efforts to accelerate technological innovation adoption. The Canadian federal government understands the value well, aiding companies in their pursuit of leveraging technology to accomplish climate objectives through the Strategic Innovation Fund, which allocates $200 million to innovative sectors like clean technology and bioscience. Public-private partnerships invest in innovative ideas and also provide education — a crucial prerequisite to technological innovation.

Many businesses find gaps in their knowledge and room for a stronger capacity to measure their impact. While grateful for the discussion, the UN Global Compact Network Canada also takes the conversation into action via programmes and events. These are geared to bring forward innovation, solve knowledge gaps, and equip its network to sufficiently tackle the SDGs. In particular, the SDG Innovator Accelerator is a 10-month virtual programme that has successfully activated future business leaders and change-makers to solve SDG challenges within their respective companies. Equipping young professionals with the knowledge, tools, and skills they need to translate their innovative ideas into tangible projects not only progresses their company’s sustainability objectives but also improves the market value of their companies.

Coming full circle to the aim for the SDGs to be solved by 2030, an emphasis must be placed on solutions that bring forward not only incremental change but also radical shifts in processes. We aren’t globally on track to fulfil the Global Goals with a business-as-usual approach, so within the UN Global Compact Network Canada’s programme structure and the broader UN network, there has been a growing interest in leveraging disruptive innovation and tech.

Disruptive technology displaces what is established and dramatically alters industries through ground-breaking products and services — even creating completely new industries. Past examples include the automobile, electricity service, television, or, more recently, e-commerce, online news sites, and ride-sharing. In theory, the new market and value networks formed behind these innovations enter the bottom of existing markets, eventually bringing forward displacement and change. Such technologies are already deployed to support democratized and decentralized access to energy and education, sensors to measure wildlife and alleviate overfishing, artificial intelligence to plan more efficient farms, and blockchain to improve financial privacy and security.

The possibilities are enormous, and we’re only beginning to explore the full impact of these enormous strides. The UN Global Compact has further webinars and reading materials available on the topic, such as the Thought Leadership Webinar: Realizing Decent Work Through Breakthrough Innovation – A Spotlight on Blockchain Technology, and further reading on the importance of disruptive tech within the field of sustainability is available in the 2030 Vision “Uniting to Deliver Technology for the Global Goals.”

The post Breakthroughs and Disruption in the Decade of Action appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Chelsea Donelon

Manager, Energy Innovation

One of our most pressing challenges is finding solutions to climate change and achieving a net-zero emissions energy system. Building on its century-long history of innovation, TransAlta is at the forefront of the transition to clean energy.

The pace of technological change is happening quickly. There are lots of potential solutions, some of which have great promise, so finding the right mix that is reliable, cost-effective, and low emitting energy is an urgent focus. This is the motivation behind TransAlta’s Energy Innovation team.

Using innovation to replace electricity generated from fossil fuels with clean alternatives

“We’ve long been innovators. We were early in Alberta to harness wind power, we converted coal plants into natural gas, we’ve built battery storage, and now we’re looking at the next technology to make energy even cleaner,” says Blain van Melle, TransAlta’s Executive Vice President, Alberta Business. “We want to be a problem solver, not only for Alberta and Canada but globally.”

With its Energy Innovation (EI) team and significant investments in new technologies, TransAlta is all-in when it comes to delivering net-zero energy for our customers. van Melle acknowledges some technologies may take 10 or more years to realize. “The work we do today will differentiate us in the future because there are promising solutions, such as hydrogen, that, with advances in technology, could make it a cost-effective and extremely clean source of energy,” he says.

TransAlta has set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The company has already reduced its emissions by 29 MT/year or approximately 70 per cent from 2005 levels. TransAlta’s Clean Electricity Growth Plan is focused on building new clean energy generation for customers in the near term and incorporating new technology solutions over the medium and long term. To help meet this challenge, TransAlta created the EI team to identify, invest in, and deploy commercially promising net-zero energy solutions that can meaningfully reduce emissions in the next decade.

Connecting innovators with capital and business know-how

The promise of technology as a key part of solving energy transition challenges inspired TransAlta to make an early-stage $2 million equity investment in Vancouver-based Ekona Power. Ekona’s promising approach to producing clean hydrogen, a proprietary type of pyrolysis, is poised to transform the hydrogen industry by offering cost-effective hydrogen production with 90+ per cent fewer emissions than conventional steam methane reformer technologies for producing the energy transition fuel. If successful, Ekona’s method would be low-cost, scalable, and could be located at industrial sites where energy is needed, saving on expensive infrastructure to transport energy. TransAlta’s investment will help Ekona develop, pilot, and commercialize its pyrolysis technology.

Passion fueling the search for clean technologies

EI manager Chelsea Donelon is passionate about the opportunity to bring TransAlta’s deep experience in developing and operating clean energy technologies together with her team’s concern for the rapidly warming climate, their convictions about the urgency of removing carbon from our energy systems, and their creativity for identifying and developing clean generation solutions.

“This focus on addressing our impact on the climate increasingly shows up in people demanding more from their work than a decent pay cheque. It’s also about making a contribution. When you’re coming to work with a contribution mindset, and you feel supported, not only does that allow us to attract top-tier talent passionate and committed to finding innovative transition solutions, it also allows us to really think creatively and holistically about the energy we produce.”

More investments and innovation led by TransAlta’s Energy Innovation Team

Further strengthening its position as a leader in the clean energy transition, TransAlta made a US$25 million commitment to the Energy Impact Partners Deep Decarbonization Frontier Fund, which is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs to bring early-stage innovative solutions that will accelerate the transition to net zero. The fund’s collaborative model gives TransAlta the opportunity to identify, pilot, commercialize, and bring to market technologies that will support its own decarbonization goals.

“This investment could be a game-changer for us since it allows us to pool our funds with some of the biggest utilities in the U.S. and Europe,” says Donelon. “We can work together and pursue breakthrough technologies.”

TransAlta also permitted WaterCharger this fall, a 180 MW battery energy storage project proposed near the Bow River west of Cochrane, Alta. The project will be a first-of-its-kind global deployment using hydroelectric power generated from the Ghost Dam to charge lithium-ion batteries next to the dam. The stored power can be used to provide grid services to the system operator, reducing the likelihood of power interruptions and other reliability events.

While TransAlta pushes forward with clean energy solutions, van Melle acknowledges the government’s critical role in fostering innovation through enabling policies, and funding new technologies.

“Think about it. We’re only seven years away from the next federal government emissions target (40–45 per cent below 2005 emissions by 2030) and 12 from the next one for the electricity sector (nationwide net-zero grid by 2035). This means transitioning our supply mix by developing thousands and thousands of new, clean megawatts of electricity. That’s not much time. Public dollars are needed to catalyze the transition by enabling new technologies to become commercially viable, and after that, the private sector can take over and deploy these technologies at scale. That’s what happened with wind and solar power,” says van Melle.

Governments need to create a level playing field for technologies that can contribute to an affordable and reliable net-zero future. Policy should be crafted to incent outcomes and allow markets to decide what technologies will advance Canada’s transition. According to Donelon, “When we think about government funding, we need to think about where are the technologies that truly have the ability to achieve affordable, reliable, net-zero electricity. And then it’s about funneling enough capital and funding to get those technologies through to commercialization to let the market drive cost reductions for consumers through economies of scale. That’s where private capital is available to finance them, where people understand the risk and the deployment of the technology. It’s also at this point where the government can then step aside and say we no longer have a role to play here.”

TransAlta’s experience developing and operating clean generation technologies, combined with the commitment and creativity to solve transition challenges, positions the company as a clean energy leader in Canada’s energy transition.

The post Energizing the Future: How TransAlta Is Leading the Transition to Net-Zero Energy appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Canada has ambitious climate goals. The road to net zero is not a simple and straightforward path. It will require careful and thoughtful planning, targeted investments, and a robust, well-supported industry of cleantech innovators. Scaling back industry, while part of the solution, is not yet viable in many areas – the demands of our society need to be met. We need technological innovations that will allow the industry to advance while reducing emissions.

Earlier this year, Foresight conducted a national survey among Canada’s cleantech ventures which indicated entrepreneurs’ number one need is access to capital, followed by industry connections. We believe, and we’ve seen success, in addressing the third need- coaching.

By focusing on the three C’s, we can collectively support the commercialization and adoption of cleantech solutions that combat climate change.

Capital

Companies need capital to grow. If we want to achieve a net zero economy by 2050, we need to create a strong cleantech ecosystem in Canada. We need to accelerate the pace of innovation, bring new ideas to market faster, and scale the cleantech industry. To make that happen, emerging cleantech ventures must have access to capital.

In November, we announced the Foresight 50 – our inaugural list of the 50 most investable cleantech companies in Canada. These ventures represent cleantech innovators from across Canada, with solutions spanning from watertech and renewable energy to carbontech and agriculture. The goal of the program is to connect the Foresight 50 companies with investors and stimulate deal flow.

Foresight also recently launched our Investor Readiness Workshop that helps companies prepare to successfully pitch investors. Combining essential training and mentorship with matchmaking events and venture showcases to connect emerging cleantech ventures and investors helps not only give the foundations but also the introductions earlier stage companies need to succeed and scale.

Securing capital, especially early on, is a huge hurdle for cleantech innovators. But they also need partners willing to test their innovations in the field.

Connections

The second C, connections, refers to the need to develop relationships between innovators and industry.

Every major Canadian industry is facing the challenge of meeting ambitious emissions targets. If we’re going to reach net zero emissions by 2050, a lot of change has to happen. We need to connect industry with innovators and accelerate this process.

Foresight leads Industry Challenges that feature reverse pitches – industry partners outline their specific sustainability challenges to innovators, who can then present market-driven solutions. We need to do more of this.

Collaboration is key. Our goal is to grow the cleantech ecosystem, transform Canada’s economy, and position this country as a global leader in climate innovation. That is going to require purposeful partnerships and teamwork.

2030 is quickly approaching, and we need to scale the cleantech ecosystem with haste. Getting technologies to market at scale quickly means avoiding setbacks, and the best way to avoid bumps in the road is to have a guide who has travelled the path before.

Coaching

Coaching is a critical piece of the puzzle that is accelerating Canada’s cleantech ventures. We need experts to share their knowledge. Having a coach or mentor who has “been there, done that,” can illuminate the process of getting a company to scale. What pitfalls to avoid, mistakes they have made, opportunities to look out for – there is no substitute for experience.

One of the most valuable aspects of Foresight’s acceleration programs is one-to-one coaching with experts.

Our roster of more than 100 highly experienced Executives in Residence and mentors who work closely with ventures. They give them advice and guidance, and they also hold them accountable for their goals.

Graduates from our acceleration programs consistently comment on the quality of our roster of executives, and the high calibre of advice and guidance they received from those experts.

Canada is equipped to meet the climate change challenge. We have the talent, the expertise, and the will to develop climate solutions that will protect our precious planet. We need to invest heavily into the three C’s to get us there.

To achieve our emissions targets we need to support the innovators who are taking on these challenges with capital infusions, collaborative partnerships, and mentors willing to share their expertise

The post What Do Canadian Cleantech Ventures Need to Succeed? appeared first on HiveInnovates.

On the heels of recent wildfires and storms, flooding, and mudslides in Canada, as well as the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, it’s now clearer than ever that we need to take urgent action to tackle climate change and the threats it poses to our economy, livelihoods, and our healthy future.

Canada has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and our government has pledged to decarbonize the economy by 2050. It also recently committed to achieving a 100 percent net-zero emissions electricity sector by 2035. Waterpower will be central to delivering the goods on this agenda.

Hydro is already the backbone of Canada’s enviably clean electricity grid. Water flowing through turbines produces close to 90 percent of Canada’s renewable electricity, and 60 percent of the country’s electric needs are powered by water.

Nonetheless, despite having a grid that is 80 percent non-emitting, Canada’s decarbonization strategy hinges on electrification — the repowering of almost everything in our society that today burns fossil fuels to instead run on zero-emissions electricity. This will mean cars, buildings, factories, and more.

With only 20 percent of our energy end-use currently electrified, transitioning everything at scale will require us to generate double or even triple the capacity of current low-emissions electricity. Canada’s waterpower fleet stands ready to not only deliver new capacity, but also help smooth and balance the load for variable renewables such as wind and solar.

Whatever the current and future clean electricity needs — from rapidly growing electric vehicle adoption, to cutting-edge efforts to electrify high-intensity industrial processes such as steel manufacturing and investments in green hydrogen — Canada’s waterpower industry is prepared to make them happen.

The post Our Clean and Resilient Electric Future, Powered by Water appeared first on HiveInnovates.

The cleantech revolution is coming, whether Canada’s ready for it or not. It’s a transition that we should all be eager and grateful for, because future generations of Canadians are depending on it. But we also need to recognize the incredible realignment this reality will require for Canadian businesses, and we need to chart a course that provides burgeoning businesses in the field with the funding and expertise they need to prosper and grow in the green economy.

Big cleantech ambition built on small and medium enterprise success

With international leaders the world over, including here at home, setting ambitious net-zero carbon goals for 2050, cleantech is going to be the sector that shapes tomorrow’s global economy. In many ways, it already is. For Canada to avoid being left behind, we must dramatically increase our domestic clean technology base and adoption of these technologies, as well as our cleantech exports. The challenge is that most of the companies that are poised to make this happen are largely small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups, that don’t have the size or reach to achieve these goals on a short timeline without support.

“Cleantech startups face enormous challenges,” says Ivette Vera-Perez, Team Lead at Mitacs, a leading national not-for-profit organization focused on increasing productivity, innovation, and economic growth through research and training programs. “In general, SMEs in cleantech often lack the critical access to public and private capital. Many clean technologies are capital intensive, but this capital also needs to be patient, as investments take time to reveal their true potential.”

However, the challenges don’t begin and end with funding. Ensuring that companies can rely on talent with the right combination of skills, expertise, innovative spirit, and domain-specific knowledge can also present difficulties.

“Startups are often founded by tech entrepreneurs with vision and expertise, but a lack of knowledge of the regulatory and policy environment results in some of these companies failing to become successful,” says Vera-Perez. “Mitacs aims to fill a portion of this gap by helping companies bring in talent from post-secondary institutions to assist them in executing their roadmaps.”

Building connections, fostering growth

The map to a green future has many roads, but two of the most critical avenues are targeted grants for sustainable technology research and subsidized innovation internships placing high-calibre post-secondary students within cleantech companies. This year, Mitacs’s Elevate thematic call for proposals is awarding $80,000 per year research grants to postdoctoral fellows in key priority sectors, including cleantech. At the same time, their Accelerate internship program is pairing the brightest student minds and most experienced supervising professors with the fastest growing and most innovative companies through a mediated system that provides $15,000 in funding for each $7,500 contribution made by a participating partner organization.

Mitacs aims to fill a portion of this gap by helping companies bring in talent from post-secondary institutions to assist them in executing their roadmaps.

These sorts of programs are the connecting tissue that lets Canada flex its clean technology muscle on the domestic and international stage. The direct and tangible benefits of these partnerships for companies that need research talent to grow and thrive are clear, but perhaps more important still is the way that they create an environment of ambition and a network of support that allows new ideas to grow and flourish.

“At Mitacs, we believe that collaboration is the key to success. And when it comes to cleantech, this is vitally important. Through our programs, we aim to foster innovation collaborations that will help companies fill gaps in their research and access the expertise they need to succeed in this important and growing sector of the economy,” says John Hepburn, Mitacs’s CEO.

At Mitacs, we believe that collaboration is the key to success. And when it comes to cleantech, this is vitally important. Through our programs, we aim to foster innovation collaborations that will help companies fill gaps in their research and access the expertise they need to succeed in this important and growing sector of the economy.

When good ideas are given room to mature

Dr. Ulrich Legrand is a former Mitacs postdoctoral researcher who has gone on to found a company, Electro Carbon, that is looking to turn carbon capture technology into an engine that drives further utility. Dr. Legrand has developed a carbon dioxide electrolyzer system that converts carbon emissions into usable byproducts like potassium formate. Potassium formate is a high value chemical with a wide variety of applications from deicing airport runways to preserving livestock feed. Until now, its production has previously been a source of emissions, rather than a net savings in them.

“Currently, Canadian companies that rely on potassium formate are importing it from countries that use traditional production methods, emitting roughly 1.4 tons of harmful carbon dioxide per ton of potassium formate into the air each year,” says Dr. Legrand. “When you take this indirect impact into account, each system we build has the potential to reduce global CO2 emissions by as much as 9,500 tons per year, the equivalent of taking 2,500 cars off the road.”

Mitacs has recognized the incredible value of Electro Carbon’s work with the 2021 Mitacs Environmental Entrepreneur Award. “This award helped us to gain visibility in our attempt to fight climate change with innovation,” says Dr. Legrand. “We will gladly collaborate with Mitacs for our next steps of development.”

This is just one example of the benefits of diligent and deliberate investment in advancing innovation in Canadian cleantech. If we continue to foster an environment of ambition and growth, and if we continue to strengthen and nurture the connections between industry and academia, Canada will be well-positioned to reach the audacious goals required to fully embrace the cleantech revolution in the decades to come.

The post Cultivating a Competitive Cleantech Canada appeared first on HiveInnovates.

As we transition into a green energy era, it’s time for Canada to redefine its role as a global energy leader. Abundant lithium resources position the country to be as ascendant in battery technology as we have historically been in fossil fuels.

More and more, the world is running on batteries. As technology continues to advance, as innovations like electric vehicles become more mainstream, and as electricity generation increasingly transitions to renewable energy, our dependence on batteries to power modern life is going to grow considerably.

Canada has built a place for itself in the world as an energy superpower, rich in both resources and expertise. In the years and decades to come, maintaining that position on the global stage is going to depend on our ability to be as groundbreaking in battery technology as we have been in oil, gas, and nuclear energy. Fortunately, Alberta’s natural wealth and enterprising spirit has us positioned to do just that.

Every roadmap to a cleaner and more electric future relies on our ability to store green energy for future use elsewhere. “Without an efficient way to make electricity mobile, a battery, it’s impossible to run society off electricity,” says Chris Doornbos, CEO of E3 Metals. “We have seen the world begin to shift to an electric future. Whatever the future source of energy is, you can’t get to an electrical society without a battery.”

These batteries won’t make themselves

Batteries, of course, are made from raw materials. And although there are many great battery designs out there, it’s the lithium battery market that drives the most ubiquitous and portable technologies from cell phones to electric vehicles and implanted medical devices. “Because of the energy density of the element lithium, it’s the most efficient metal on the periodic table for enabling the movement of electrons,” says Doornbos. “If you ask any chemist what would be the theoretical best tool to do the job of a battery, they would point to lithium.”

So where do we get our lithium from? Well, the good news is that it’s everywhere. The hard part is finding large enough sources where it can be extracted in an economically viable way. This is where Alberta’s Leduc Aquifer, the same place where the province’s oil legacy began in 1947, comes in. “Lithium is everywhere,” says Doornbos. “There is even lithium in seawater. But, then, there’s also gold in seawater. You have to be able to make an economic project work, and that requires a concentrated source of lithium and the ability to extract it. What we know about this aquifer in Alberta is that it can deliver large volumes of lithium-rich brine, which means we can make it happen.”

An entirely new industry

Lithium has not historically been produced in Alberta. In fact, E3 Metals had to advocate for regulations to be put in place, because the industry was non-existent and no regulatory body was empowered to oversee it. But now that the potential magnitude of this industry is becoming clear, people are beginning to pay attention.

“The total amount of lithium in Western Canada is truly remarkable,” says Doornbos. “Alberta as a whole is probably one of the largest sources of lithium globally. In the future, E3 Metals alone could produce over 150,000 tons of lithium a year. To give you an idea of where that fits in the global scheme, the biggest lithium producers today make about 80,000 tons. When this gets going, we could see lithium become a major contributor to Alberta’s GDP.”

Requiring a very familiar skillset

It’s a perfect storm of resource density and expertise positioned at just the right moment in history. At a time when the shift away from oil and gas makes Alberta’s future look uncertain, this is an opportunity to reinvent and reinvigorate the province with a clean energy technology that requires all the same workforce skills. As E3 Metals ramps up the development of their lithium extraction operation at the Leduc Aquifer, they are creating a lot of jobs for exactly the kind of workers Alberta already has.

“Most of the staff that we have on hand have worked in the oil industry,” says Doornbos. “Because we produce lithium from an aquifer, we produce it like oil. We drill a well and put in a pump, just like the oil and gas industry. Everything we do to operate and build this has been done in Alberta before.”

Low environmental impact

Of course, there’s one big question facing an industry that aims to be instrumental in building a sustainable future, especially one that is directly positioning itself as part of the transition from fossil fuels, “How clean is it?” Thanks to E3’s Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) ion exchange process, developed in partnership with the University of Alberta, the answer is, “Very.”

“We have a very small footprint,” says Doornbos. “Basically, there are columns of beads that the lithium in the brine sticks to as it flows through. So the brine comes out of the ground and into our facility, we extract the lithium, and we put the brine right back into the aquifer in a closed-loop system, otherwise unchanged. That’s our impact.”

It’s a straightforward process with a lot of upside, and the social license is already in place. Now that the regulatory framework has also been established, the first lithium extraction enterprises in Alberta will soon be going from proof-of-concept to full operation. E3 Metals expects to be producing battery-ready lithium products in Alberta by 2025-2026.

“There will be other lithium producers in Alberta soon too,” says Doornbos. “I’m convinced of it. This is going to be a very big deal for the province.”

The post Alberta’s Future is Lithium: From Oil Powerhouse to Battery Powerhouse appeared first on HiveInnovates.

The electrification of Canada’s transportation system is critical to achieving our net-zero ambitions. Meeting this goal of carbon neutrality will require multiple elements, including technology, finance, and services to be delivered and scaled at unprecedented levels in the coming decade. Private and public interests will need to come together to achieve a net-zero mobility future.

Here in Canada, global technology pioneer ABB is leading the way in the drive for clean mobility electrification and digitalization.

We have a moral obligation to turn this current situation into a better one for the planet and the future

Moving toward a net-zero future

Canada is on an ambitious path toward net-zero emissions. At the recent 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Canada committed to accelerating the phasing out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

But are we equipped to tackle this goal?

We know that clean electrification would get us much of the way to net zero. Digitalization empowers everyday citizens to shift from traditional demand and consumption to prosumerism, or the increased involvement of customers in the production process — that is, both producing and consuming electricity, and even selling it back to the grid. And digital smart grid technology can be used to enable flexible demand.

Making electricity truly clean

The first challenge in making the transition to net-zero is making our electricity truly clean. By 2040, 90 percent of electricity must come from renewable sources. We’ve already made enormous progress, with 29 percent of electricity from renewable generation globally.

The second challenge is enabling our power grids to be able to manage that renewable energy. Today’s power grid wasn’t built for variable sources, so it can’t capture and use all of the renewable energy being produced. We’re wasting renewable energy, then using fossil fuels as backup when solar and wind are low. We can’t afford that.

Other challenges include addressing and accommodating the complexity of the modern grid and rising electricity demand, which will more than double by 2050. This will require doubling our infrastructure, or managing existing infrastructure more intelligently with smart grid technology.

The good news is that digitalization helps solve many of these issues in the grid. Smart grids connect supply and demand sites to make demand more flexible. They use artificial intelligence (AI) to shift user demand automatically in buildings and electric vehicles to times when energy from renewable sources is available, and also add capacity, by feeding energy back into the grid, when solar and wind are low.

E-mobility’s role in the transition

As we increase clean electrification through empowered demand and a shift to clean energy, one specific area that offers a lot of promise is e-mobility.

E-mobility — the use of electrified vehicles for transportation purposes — will be a key part of the transition to net-zero emissions. “The number one and two challenges in greenhouse gas emission for Canada are buildings and transportation,” says Eric Deschenes, Country Managing Director and Head of the Electrification Business for ABB Canada. “If we collectively have the political courage to tackle these two challenges, it would represent more than 50 percent of the whole undertaking. Political will is the first domino. It’s action on the governmental level that allows the second and third dominoes in the economy and in the community to fall. Technology is no longer the show-stopper here.”

An interconnected ecosystem

The political will is clearly materializing, but we need widespread collaboration. Moving toward clean electrification and e-mobility will require cooperation and action from an ecosystem consisting of government, the private sector, public citizens, industry, and everyday Canadians.

Companies like ABB are an integral part of that ecosystem. In the quest to lift up the entire energy ecosystem to a new, consistent, and sustainable level, events such as the ABB FIA Formula E auto racing championship, returning to Canada this year, are here to speed the transformation.

“ABB Formula E is more than just a race,” says Deschenes. “It’s a testbed and platform to develop e-mobility-relevant electrification and digitalization technologies all in the name of accelerating the transition of electrified transport.”

While these races are energizing the conversation around the electrification of mobility, they’re also directly driving the development of the infrastructure that supports that transition. To further strengthen ABB’s commitment to advancing e-mobility in Canada and to coincide with the return of the championship to a country so closely tied to ABB’s own e-mobility development, ABB Canada will be donating electric chargers to the City of Vancouver and will work closely with the city to determine which chargers will be provided based on Vancouver’s current needs.

“ABB FIA Formula E does more than just engage the local community and drive faster adoption,” says Deschenes. “Right after the Canadian E-Prix in Vancouver, next July, ABB Canada will leave behind more than $50,000 in charging infrastructure. This is in addition to everything Vancouver and British Columbia are doing.”

ABB leading the way

As Canada moves toward its net-zero emissions goal, ABB’s leadership is invaluable.

“I recognize that my generation runs the risk of receiving a planet in better condition than the one we’re leaving to the next generation,” says Deschenes. “We have a moral obligation to turn this current situation into a better one for the planet and the future.”

The time to act is now. We need to unite. What are you going to do?

The post The Race Is On: Accelerating a Sustainable Future for Canada appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Corporate decarbonization can be a long and complicated process, but Amp helps its clients become leaders in the push to net-zero.

The transition to a low-carbon global economy is increasing the corporate demand for power purchase agreements (PPAs) as organizations seek to reduce emissions and secure their long-term energy costs. As one of Canada’s leading renewable energy developers, Amp’s vision and technological innovations are reshaping traditional sustainability strategies and helping corporations realize their clean energy future.

Forging a new era in Canadian renewables

Steve Schaefer has been with Amp since its inception in 2009 and now serves as Senior Vice President of Origination and Head of Canadian Operations. Schaefer and his team have developed over 130MW of renewable energy across over 550 projects, primarily in the form of feed-in tariff contracts supplied by solar and, more recently, hybrid solar plus battery storage assets.

“The genesis of our commercial and industrial (C&I) strategy is to solve the challenges associated with C&I clients achieving their environmental sustainability targets by providing the most beneficial solutions,” says Schaefer. “This is why Amp is now a top-tier PPA provider globally.”

With decarbonization being new territory for many C&I organizations, Amp’s initial role focuses primarily on education, data collection, and strategic planning.

“More and more C&I organizations are making ambitious net-zero commitments, but they don’t always know where to start,” says Schaefer. “That’s exactly where we come in.”

A holistic approach to decarbonization

Amp has evolved from supplying clean energy solutions to complete decarbonization strategies. In the increasingly competitive renewable energy sector, one of Amp’s key differentiators is its holistic approach to C&I energy transitions.

“Many organizations have taken small steps in the decarbonization space to date, but have now either generated their own net-zero target or had one imposed upon them,” says Schaefer. “Decarbonization doesn’t rely on one single pillar. The only way to reach these goals is through a holistic approach.”

Amp’s unique approach will include combining renewable generation with battery storage and its proprietary digital energy platform, Amp X. “We’re now integrating and unifying real asset development with Amp X, combining supply and demand through a digital platform with a single optimization engine,” says Schaefer. “We will be taking all the energy nodes, whether they’re consumption, generation, or both combined with storage, and providing the unique capability to optimize behind the meter.”

Unlocking energy flexibility with Amp X

The development and evolution of Amp X has been a revelation in the integrated energy solutions space. Working in conjunction with renewable energy and storage assets, Amp X is designed to unlock new levels of optimization and flexibility, enabling C&I customers to potentially generate new revenue streams via participation in energy markets.

Amp is also rapidly establishing itself as a global leader in the energy storage space, with an expanding portfolio of standalone assets and hybridized systems pairing batteries with solar or wind. In addition to extending the penetration of renewable generation, energy storage is emerging as an effective way to reduce peak energy demand.

Amid the rapid progress of Canada’s C&I decarbonization efforts, Schaefer is excited by the scale of the opportunities that lie ahead. “It’s breathtaking to see how many organizations are making that net-zero pledge, and my team and I are excited to support our C&I partners in achieving this vision,” he says.

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