Alberta’s Climate Change and Emissions Management (CCEMC) Corporation announced October 8 that it was committing more than $46 million in funding for eight renewable energy projects, with a combined value of nearly $390 million.
“Renewable energy is now the largest part of the CCEMC portfolio,” said CCEMC Chair Eric Newell. “With growing global energy demand, it is critical that we continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy will play an important role in helping Alberta to reach emissions reduction goals and transition to a lower carbon future.”
The eight projects are estimated to combine to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than five megatonnes over 10 years.
The projects receiving funding are:
• GrowTEC on-farm waste to energy project, by Grow the Energy Circle Ltd., Perry Family Potato Farm Sustainability Initiative
• Large Scale Building Integrated Solar PV Demonstration in Production Housing by Landmark Group of Builders
• Implementation of High Solids Anaerobic Digestion Technology at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre by Waste Management Services of the City of Edmonton, partnering with University of Alberta
• The Wintering Hills Battery Storage Pilot Project, by Suncor Energy, in conjunction with Teck
• Drayton Valley Aspen Integrated Resource Recovery (AIRR) Facility by the Town of Drayton Valley
• Wavelength-Selective Solar Collectors (WSSCs) for Power Generating Greenhouses and Carbon Capture, by the University of California, Santa Cruz
• The Optimal Biocell by the University of Calgary
• Blackspring Ridge Wind Project. The project is a 50% joint ownership between EEN CA Blackspring Ridge I Wind Project L.P. and Enbridge Blackspring Ridge I Wind Project Limited Partnership (the “Co-Owners”) and the project is managed by EDF EN Canada Development Inc. on behalf of the Co-Owners.
The renewable energy projects are from the seventh round of funding offered by the CCEMC. While most of the 99 submissions were from North America, the CCEMC also received submissions from Europe, Asia, India, Africa and the Middle East.
On November 7 CCEMC invited full proposals from 55 projects from around the world for the first round of its $35 million Grand Challenge. The Grand Challenge is seeking to create new products and markets based on the utilization and conversion of carbon dioxide.
Shortlisted projects are diverse and include chemical synthesis, carbonate production, liquid fuels, bacteria bio-fixation, methanol production, solid carbon products, polymer processing, syngas production, fertilizer production, algae bio-fixation and water treatment. Winning projects will be announced on April 15 at the Zero2014 conference in Edmonton. More detail on the conference will be available at http://www.zero2014.com/.