Listen to our conversation with Kári Helgason, Head of Research & Innovation at Carbfix.
From his start in astrophysics and work at NASA, Kári chose to tackle a more pressing problem closer to home and go to work in the carbon capture and storage industry in Iceland.
Taking advantage of Iceland’s zero carbon electric grid and porous basalt rock formations, Carbfix is providing some of the lowest if not the lowest cost per ton of CO2 captured and stored.
Looking at deploying their technologies in other areas of the world with similar geology, as well as the construction of a marine terminal to have captured CO2 from Europe shipped to Iceland for storage, Carbfix is working towards its pathway at sequestering a Megaton of CO2 within the next 5 years.
Listen to our conversation with Jason Vallis, Vice President of External Relations for Planetary Tech.
Focusing on drawing down carbon through a process that absorbs carbon from the atmosphere to lock it away in the ocean, as well as decreasing ocean acidity (another impact of increasing atmospheric CO2). Their Accelerated Carbon Transmission (ACT) Platform is designed to take mine tailings as the feedstock, as well as water and renewable power, to create their antacid (alkaline) compound that is introduced into the ocean.
The by-products of the process are valuable metals and hydrogen which create an additional revenue stream for the process, as well as providing an economic incentive for the treatment of mine tailings.
A growing startup, Planetary Tech’s goal is to remove 1 Billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2035 through a novel process that resolves several environmental problems with one solution.
Join our conversation with Jim Mann, Founder and CEO of the Future Forest Company.
Based in Scotland, the Future Forest Company aims to produce long term carbon capture through reforestation, biochar production and enhanced rock weathering (carbon reacting rock dust) to increase the carbon sequestration capacity of agricultural land and forests.
Currently focusing on how best to deploy these technologies for fastest possible scaling up in order to reach the goal of making a sizable contribution to the need for carbon sequestration. Targets are for removing 3M tons of CO2 by 2030, with the aim of becoming the first company to achieve a billion tons of carbon removed.
The company is funded principally by selling verified carbon offsets to enable companies to eliminate the last remaining aspect of their carbon footprint, which represents a potential market of 10 to 20 billion tons of carbon.
Getting his start in the oil industry, Daniel Hoof was inspired by the huge possibilities of seaweed to draw down carbon, stimulate biodiversity and do so in a commercially viable fashion. In 2020 he founded Kelp Blue.
Primarily Focusing on creating products for the bio stimulant market, for use as plant stimulants for the organic agricultural market. Fast growing kelp forest have the ability to lock away carbon into the depth of the ocean as well as providing for increased biodiversity for marine species.
Currently developing a pilot project to be launched within the next year, with a plan to expand soon thereafter. Kelp Blue, looks forward to developing the full potential of kelp farming.
Join us for our conversation with Melissa Barbosa, Head of Sustainability at Ikea Group.
As a major global brand, Ikea has set a goal of being completely zero waste and climate positive (reducing more GHG emissions that it emits) and committed to responsible sourcing. The timeline they have set to achieve this is 2030.
By 2025 they aim to have zero GHG emissions for their delivery service, and in Canada they have already introduced zero emission delivery and service in several markets, as well as producing more power than their operations consume via wind and solar installations.
Well on their way to achieve these targets, Ikea has taken a 100% approach in their goals and as such have looked at every aspect of their business and supply chains to develop their business in a full circular model.
From switching to more sustainable packaging, creating a service to bring back used Ikea furniture for an in-store discount, and even a plant based Swedish meatballs now served in their restaurant service, there is no end to the number of initiatives this industry leader is taking on.
Join our conversation with Rob Bernhardt, an expert in building energy efficiency and policy.
As past CEO of Passive House Canada and someone who has built and sold Passive House buildings, and lives in one, he is familiar with the costs and benefits of highly efficient buildings.
As the most stringent energy efficiency standard in the world, Passive House buildings require up to 90% less heating and cooling energy than conventional buildings in addition to improving affordability, thermal comfort, air quality and noise reduction.
From being a novel building practice a decade ago, millions of square feet of both new and retrofit Passive House projects are being undertaken in Canada alone. Both components and expertise are now easier to find, offering a promising path to decarbonization of the building sector.
Tune in to our conversation with Rob Lavoie, President and CEO of AirTerra.
Rob has turned his fascination with carbon capture into a emerging North American enterprise looking to introduce BioChar products to new markets.
From experimentation in Kenya with the aim of greatly improve the efficiency of wood cooking and developing organic soil amendments as a by-product generated by the cooking stoves, AirTerra® is now sourcing biochar from multiple producers in Alberta and BC to produce their SoilMatrix® biochar product.
With the ability to utilize waste wood products and locking away half of the carbon content from the initial bio-feedstock into solid form, AirTerra is able to permanently sequester the carbon in the soil while also improving it.
Join our conversation with Vic Shao, CEO and Founder of AMPLY Power.
Bringing cloud based management solutions to fleet charging systems, AMPLY is out to simplify the world of fleet management by creating Charging-as-a-Service to manage the multitude of details to have charging infrastructure work on a fleet level. Currently servicing public and private EV fleets operating electric trucks, buses, vans, and other vehicles.
From multiple hardware vendors to drastic time of day electrical pricing tariffs, we'll also discuss the complexities of large scale charging infrastructure and Vic's thoughts on the future of the industry and the pace of electrification.
Join our conversation with Ben Levitt, Director of Research and Development at Zap Energy.
From working in exploratory technology for the oil and gas industry, to being a full participant in the energy transition as he works to bring Fusion technology to market, Ben shares with us his journey.
A small but growing startup, Zap Energy is pursuing a novel form of plasma containment technology as the industry is in a rush to reach the goal of self-sustaining fusion. As the last few years have seen significant investment in private investment and growth of a number of start up companies joining the race.
Ben also helps us differentiate nuclear Fission (traditional nuclear technologies) to nuclear Fusion, and how this will be a game changer in a zero carbon world. As well as his toughs and the current nuclear Fission industry and what the future holds for it.
Join our conversation with Bob Powell, Chief Executive Officer of Brigthmark.
Dedicated to finding sustainable and economically viable solutions to the waste problem, Brigthmark has developed two principal business lines. The first is a process for transforming plastic waste into base chemical components that can be used to make fuel or new virgin plastics, thereby completely recycling all classes of plastics including the traditional non-recyclable kinds.
The second line of business deals with tackling methane emissions from organic waste, food and animal waste and turning them into renewable natural gas.
Focusing on growing both lines of business throughout North America to reduce the impact of waste on the environment, and looking for other ways to re-imagine waste.
Listen to our conversation with Craig Nicol, CEO of Graphene Materials Group (GMG).
Having developed the ability to create Graphene by extracting carbon from natural gas, GMG has been busy developing ways to utilize this super material to accelerate the development of reduced and zero carbon technologies.
Using the remarkable properties for heat transfer of these materials, GMG is commercializing specialized coatings to be used for air conditioner systems that will dramatically reduce the energy efficiency of these systems.
Also in development is an Aluminum-ion based battery with significant improvements over Li-ion technology in performance and environmental impact that GMG is working to bring to market within a year starting in specialized consumer electronics applications initially.
Having the potential to revolutionize the battery technology, this will definitely be one company to follow.
Join our conversation with Heather MacKenzie, Executive Director of Solar Alberta. Representing residential, business and the solar industry, this Non-Profit has a mission to educate and facilitate the development of solar energy and industry in the province of Alberta.
Leading in the growth of solar power generation in Canada, we’ll go over what is making that possible, as well as getting a better sense of what the future holds.
We’ll discuss Alberta’s Clean Energy Improvement Program, following on the American PACE model, allowing property owners to obtain affordable loans for rooftop solar install and making solar systems affordable.
A great in depth view of Alberta’s solar boom and what it means for the future of energy in this region.
Join our conversation with Gray Alton, Vice President of Project Development at Terrapin Geothermics in Edmonton AB.
Pioneering conventional geothermal power generation in Alberta, Terrapin is looking to take advantage of the untapped geothermal capacity in northern Alberta to create a baseload and renewable zero carbon energy source. Terrapin is currently working on their Alberta No 1 project to drill down 4km to access a geothermal heat resource to run a large-scale electrical generating facility along with a district heating supply network.
The second line of Terrapin’s business is taking advantage of recovering waste heat from industrial processes and generating electricity to reduce their electrical grid consumption or generate revenue with the sale of the power generated. With an estimated 60% of the energy we create as a society lost as a waste heat, there is a massive opportunity for zero carbon power generation.
Join our conversation with John Bissell and Rich Riley, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Origin Materials.
Using novel chemistry to use wood product waste streams as feedstock, their process creates plastics and other valuable materials that would otherwise be made from fossil fuels. These materials are able to be generated in a carbon neutral and even carbon negative manner from waste.
Having much demand for their products from a industry looking for zero carbon alternatives, they have created a number of high level partnerships and they are developing their production base as fast as they can to meet the growing demand.
Listen to our interview with Jonathan Frank, Head of Clean Energy at Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB).
A Canadian nationally chartered bank, VCIB is a values driven bank with the goal of utilizing the tools of finance to drive a lower carbon future and seek new and innovative solutions that are often overlooked by mainstream finance.
Lending to a large range of clean tech focused projects, VCIB is a partner who provides the due diligence needed for project success and is able to make the connection to a wide array of outside expertise.
Lending to projects that make economic sense, VCIB is able to provide competitive lending terms and help scale-up climate solutions for projects looking for loans in the range of $3M to $50M or partnering with others on larger projects. Focused on a growing segment of the market, VCIB is aiming to be a major player in the financial solutions to the climate crisis. VCIB also provides a range of business lending solutions, commercial real estate lending solutions and deposit products, all with a focus on creating positive social and environmental change.
Join our conversation with Sophia Hamblin Wang, Chief Operating Officer of Mineral Carbonation International.
Utilizing a variety of industrial mineral waste streams, MCI is able to utilize their carbon reactor system to combine them with captured carbon in order to create a variety of products, such as magnesium carbonate, silica, and other low carbon or carbon negative products.
Having been granted a $14M investment by the Australian government, MCI is quickly moving to building a full demonstration plant within 2 years along with plans for additional plant locations and create agreements for carbon value chains for a supply of feed material and supply agreements for their end products.
Working on creating the circular economy of carbon, Sophia gives us her perspective of the growing Carbon Capture and Utilization market that may well be worth over 5.9 trillion in the very near future as well as the ongoing race for carbon neutrality.
Join our conversation with Joseph Pallant, Founder of Blockchain for Climate Foundation.
As an avid supporter of blockchain technology, Joseph has been leading the development of a blockchain platform to enable issuance and exchange of international carbon credits under the Paris Agreement.
Utilizing the tools available on Ethereum blockchain ecosystem to issue Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) allows each ton of carbon credit to carry all of the information around the project that created it, how its moved from there, to its eventual "retirement" against a carbon footprint.
Blockchain for Climate Foundation's "BITMO Platform" is live as a beta version on Ethereum's Rinkeby testnet. As the target market and initial use case for this platform is national governments seeking to issue and exchange Paris-compliant carbon credits, the team is now seeking national government partners to trial, collaborate on, and if desired, eventually champion its use.
We'll also discuss the current carbon footprint of cryptocurrency, and new innovation being done to create a sustainable pathway both in terms of reducing and offsetting emissions for cryptocurrency mining and development of proof of stake consensus mechanism for developing new crypto coins produced at greatly reduced energy intensity.
Join us for our conversation with Siddha Mahajan of Anova Energy, as we examine the ways Canadian industry can meet their regulatory carbon emissions reductions.
Anova Energy is a leading Canadian commodities brokerage firm, based in Alberta, offering services in procurement management, renewable/green energy credits acquisition & sale, retail energy reviews, energy procurement audits, and energy consumption analysis.
In our conversation we'll look at the current options for companies to reduce, and then offset their carbon footprint. How do international credits fit in and the advantage of verified or Gold Standard offsets.
Listen to our conversation with Wilson Ma VP, Corporate Development at Li-Cycle.
With Lithium battery demand continuing to rise and the extraction of raw materials creating more pressure on our environment, new and lucrative opportunities are arising to re-use end-of-life batteries and battery manufacturing scrap to create less expensive and less intensive sources.
Li-Cycle can supply Lithium to the industry at a cost advantage compared to the mining industry by recuperating up to 95% of the material from old batteries and battery scrap producing new lithium battery materials.
With plans to list on the NYSE, build a third facility in Phoenix, and expand globally, Li-Cycle is aiming to become the #1 domestic supplier of cobalt and nickel sulphates. Working with their partners they plan to grow their collection network and recover as many end of life batteries as possible to meet rising demand for batteries now and in the future.
Join our conversation with Jennifer Wagner, President of CarbonCure.
The recent winner of the $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE for their innovation in developing solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of the concrete industry.
Founded in 2007, CarbonCure has seen increased growth over the last several years, and their technology is now being used by 350 concrete plants around the world.
Their process involves injecting captured CO2 from other sources into the concrete mixing process and locking it permanently away as it mineralizes into the concrete structure increasing the strength of the structure allowing the reduction of the cement needed in the mix thereby also reducing the CO2 generated in cement manufacturing.