ecoEII Research and Development (R&D) Projects:

Enzymatic Technology for Efficient Carbon Capture from Oil Sands Operations

Lead Proponent:  CO₂ Solutions Inc.
Location:  Québec and Alberta

Project Objectives:

The objective of this Project is to develop CO₂ Solutions’ enzyme-based approach for low-cost carbon dioxide capture from industrial effluent emissions in the Alberta oil sands and elsewhere.

Unconventional oil production methods used in the oil sands have a somewhat higher carbon footprint than conventional oil production methods. Both industry and government are focused on ways to reduce these emissions, with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) being a key mitigation option. However, the cost of conventional carbon capture systems is prohibitive towards broad commercial deployment.

Inspired by nature, CO₂ Solutions’ technology lowers this cost barrier by taking advantage of a powerful naturally occurring enzyme, carbonic anhydrase, which regulates CO₂ in all living organisms. This ‘industrial lung’ technology can be retrofitted to existing carbon capture systems as well as installed in new emissions sources.

In the project, CO₂ Solutions and its partners will optimize and validate the technology at large-bench and pilot scale to capture 90% of CO₂ from oil sands in-situ production and upgrading operations with atleast 25% cost savings compared to conventional carbon capture technology.  Achieving this objective would provide an efficient solution when integrated with sequestration of the CO₂ to help meet Canada’s GHG reduction targets.

Development of Codes and Standards for Marine Energy Converters

Lead Proponent: Marine Renewables Canada Society
Location: Nanaimo, BC

Project Objective:

The Canadian marine renewable energy industry has played a leading and active role in the development of International Standards through the International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee 114 (IEC/TC114) for “Marine Energy – Wave, Tidal and other Water Current Energy Converters” since 2007. To ensure that Canadian input and needs are appropriately reflected in the development of these International Standards, Canada formed the Canadian Sub-Committee (CSC/ TC114) with experts from industry, academia and the Federal government. This Project is primarily focussed on maintaining and enhancing Canada’s participation in the phase of development of international standards and technical specifications for renewable marine energy conversion systems.

Kortright Energy Yield Test Standard

Lead Proponent: Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
Location: Toronto, ON

Project Objective:
The objective of this project is to evaluate the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61853 - 4 part technical standard on Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and energy rating methodology in terms of its applicability and efficacy in the Canadian environment. The intent of this standard is to provide a more accurate and representative power and energy rating to PV modules that can be applied to a range of environmental conditions, and utilized for improved energy yield predictions and integration of renewables back to the grid.

The evaluation of this standard will be based on the execution of multiple different methodologies defined within the standard and by comparisons of energy yield calculations derived from the standard to actual energy yields from outdoor performance and models derived from PV System Energy modelling software. The successful validation of this standard has potential to greatly improve the quality assurance programs of PV module manufacturers in Canada and improve the reliability of photovoltaic performance in Canada thereby reducing uncertainty in photovoltaic investment opportunities and assist in reducing barriers to the deployment of clean electricity in Canada.