Grants and Contributions

e-Zinc is a zinc-air battery company based in Toronto. The company’s energy storage system can be up to 80 percent less expensive than comparable lithium-ion systems for long-duration applications. Importantly, its energy storage system can operate in cold and hot climates and is made of abundant and recyclable materials.

The project will be hosted at Eurus Energy America Corporation’s (EEAC) Bull Creek wind facility in Borden County, Texas (Bull Creek). The pilot program will store excess wind generation capacity in the e-Zinc battery system at Bull Creek. EEAC can then use the stored energy to power buildings at the local facility. e-Zinc’s system is expected to store power for 24 hours, an order of magnitude longer than typical batteries, and is better suited to the intermittency of wind generation than typical batteries. The pilot project will deliver firsthand experience with e-Zinc’s disruptive technology, and potentially lead to future manufacturing, supply chain and commercial opportunities between TTCI and e-Zinc. Additionally, TTCI will apply its unique capabilities to support installation, integration, and system O&M.

The strong pressure to increase greenhouse production in Canada faces the risk of increasing fossil fuel consumption and associated GHGs. It is important to put in place solutions that will support food self-sufficiency with new, more eco-responsible production approaches that enable greater profitability for growers. As part of this evolutionary approach, the rise of artificially-lit vertical farming is generating exciting new initiatives around the world. The project proposed by Ferme d'Hiver Technologie inc (FHT) and its technical and academic partners aims to set up two vertical farming production rooms and use the excess heat produced by lighting these rooms to heat an adjacent greenhouse. This innovative project, which has never been carried out anywhere else in the world, will benefit from the dynamism of a start-up company, the expertise of its multidisciplinary team and the experience of a 35-year veteran of greenhouse fruit and vegetable production. The project will demonstrate the validity of the approach and propel Canada to the forefront of cutting-edge sustainable development technology.

Future Fields is an Edmonton-based biotech company that produces the most cost-effective and sustainable recombinant proteins in the world. The company has developed a novel insect-based expression platform that circumvents the challenges associated with legacy systems. In just 2 years, they have already launched 3 different products that are tailored to the needs of the cellular agriculture industry, a new and exciting field where traditional agriculture products, like milk or meat, can be created by culturing cells instead of raising animals.

GBatteries has invented and demonstrated Active Battery Management System, powered by machine learning, to enable ultra-fast charging of Li-ion batteries with minimized degradation. GBatteries is on a mission to accelerate global mass adoption of electric vehicles to reduced oil dependency, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and enable alternative transportation options.

The specific project objectives are to develop and demonstrate the most superior, high energy dense Li-metal battery, with currently available Li-metal active materials, liquid electrolyte and GBatteries Active Battery Management System control, enabling a real and practical ultra-fast charge, lower cost, long life, and safety.

Over the years, the upstream industry has put significant effort towards improving the way we produce our hydrocarbon reserves as the era of “easy oil” has long been surpassed.  Two of our biggest issues facing today’s hydrocarbon production are poor investment returns driven by capital and commodity prices and the increasing pressures to reduce the environmental footprint. Modern Wellbore Solutions is developing a multilateral technology that creates cost and environmental efficiencies by allowing oil and natural gas companies to drill multiple lateral legs from a single vertical wellbore and hydraulic fracturing. The technology is engineered for adoption and is compatible with existing well construction, equipment and facilities activities. The objective of this project is to continue the development of the multilateral lateral Junction process and tool, which was supported by initial investments from Alberta Innovates and Tecterra to a full-scale deployment system. The first of its kind in the world, this multilateral technology will allow oil and natural gas companies to drill, complete, and operate onshore multilaterals throughout the life cycle of its wellbore. The environmental benefits come from providing operators with a reduction in emissions above existing practices in terms of the development, drilling, production and abandonment activities. While our technology is targeted to the oil and natural gas sector, it also has application to geothermal energy projects.

Nano One is a technology company with a scalable industrial process for producing low-cost, high-performance energy storage materials for batteries and a wide range of advanced nanostructured composite materials.

Preventative leak detection is a growing field in the pipeline monitoring industry. Distributed fiber optic sensing is a major technology platform for this service. Hifi's high fidelity dynamic sensing system (HDS) is capable of sensing acoustics, temperature, strain and vibration in or near a pipeline in very high fidelity. The system, which can monitor very long distances, has been successfully used for leak detection in land and offshore pipelines in Canada and the United States, as well as in other international regions such as South America and Europe.

A variety of artificial intelligence / machine learning based software methods such as leak signature classification, flow anomaly localization, and observing major changes in the pipeline acoustic propagation model, are being developed for leak detection. Results from independent lab tests where the efficacy of the system in detecting pinhole leaks with pressure ratings as low as 5 psi and flow rates down to 0.1 LPM has been proven. Hifi's HDS technology can help make pipelines safer and represent an excellent made-in-Canada solution to a very relevant Canadian problem.

Hortau has pioneered the Internet of Things in agriculture by developing a new approach to irrigation management since 2008. Hortau is currently marketing the first predictive model for global crop production control to increase yields and productivity while reducing inputs such as water, fertilizers and energy that result in reductions in GHGs and diffuse nitrogen pollution. This new technology, known as the Multivariate system, redefines needs, diagnostic methods and the approach to agronomic interventions using fully computerized technology based on real-time and continuous measurements. As part of the project, the Multivariate system will be enhanced with new technologies in order to develop new markets and territories and thus multiply the environmental benefits associated with its use by farmers.

INNORD develops innovative technologies for extraction and separation of rare earth elements and other critical metals essential for a sustainable future. The company has developed an innovative and proprietary process to extract rare earths elements in a sustainable way from iron rich industrial waste such as magnet scrap. As this technology is demonstrated on a larger scale, INNORD is now committed to work with major partners from various industries to tackle different industrial and mining waste issues where iron is a major hindrance. INNORD developed a process that could extract value from bauxite residue, reduce more than 70% of waste volume and produce valuable by-products. The implementation of this technology would free up waste storage space and extend the life of the alumina refinery plant in Saguenay, which will help to maintain and create jobs in Quebec. The production of scandium and other valuable by-products will contribute positively to the renewable energy sector in Canada.

Lorama is pleased to announce that due to SDTC support, it is able to bring its latest innovation in the area of environmentally sound chemicals to market on an accelerated basis. In this project, Lorama has perfected a new range of adhesives, based upon its proprietary polysaccharide resin chemistry, that technically and economically replace toxic, carcinegenic, and fossil fuel based adhesives currently in widespread use, inclusive of house construction and furniture (engineered wood products) applications.
In addition to protecting the public from such hazards, elimination of these traditional adhesives has the potential to reduce GHG emissions by up to 25000 kilo-tons of GHG. The replacement Lorama products are entirely plant-based materials, fully renewable, pose no health hazard, and offer Canada the opportunity to play an important part in reducing the environmental footprint of this adhesive class, while adding hundreds of Millions of $'s to our GNP.