The federal government has announced an additional $206 million in funding to be made available for thirty-six clean technology projects across Canada. The money is made available to companies through Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), an arm’s length foundation created to support climate change-related innovations. It is intended to allow companies to develop and demonstrate their technologies before taking them to market, the government says. The announcement of the new funding was made by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains just two days after the prime minister announced a $125 million investment for clean infrastructure projects.
The government has said that Canada must lead in innovation and create clean jobs in order to stay competitive as the world transitions from a carbon-based economy. “From waste management to biofuels to greener solutions for the oil and gas industry,” said Minister Bains, “these Canadian companies are leading the world in intelligent, environmentally responsible and economically sound solutions in a number of key economic sectors.”
The thirty-six companies and consortia receiving funding are spread across the country and represent a range of industries: energy exploration and production; power generation; waste management; energy utilization; transportation.
Here is a sampling, featuring the Ontario companies receiving funding from SDTC
- ARDA Power: a scalable, plug-and-play DC microgrid solution for commercial and industrial sites.
- ASE Smart Energy: an energy-saving solution for the residential and hospitality HVAC markets.
- Avalon Rare Metals: an environmentally responsible, economically viable method for extracting rare earths from ore bodies in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
- Comet Biorefining: a technology that converts biomass into dextrose sugar for conversion to renewable chemical compounds and biomaterials, with by-products used in animal nutrition.
- Hydrogenics Corporation: a power-to-gas technology for converting surplus renewable electricity into hydrogen gas, which can be stored and brought back to the electricity grid when needed.
- Imtex Membranes Corporation: an energy-efficient membrane technology for use in ethylene/propylene production.
- NextGrid Inc: an alternative, non-centralized method of power generation that uses combined heat and power steam generators to generate heat and electricity.
- Pyrowave Inc: a technology for recycling plastics by breaking them down with microwaves.
- QD Solar: a solar panel technology that uses nano-engineered materials to boost the power generation capacity of conventional solar cells by 20 per cent.
- Terrestrial Energy Inc: a new form of nuclear energy that uses liquid fuel and is safer, more waste efficient and cost-competitive with fossil fueled power plants.
- Thetis Environmental Technologies: a new line of membrane filtration systems for removing soluble oils and other impurities from water used in industry so that it can be re-used.
