Why is Canada uniquely positioned to seize opportunities and grow its emerging bioeconomy?
Backed by its strong natural resources management, applied innovation, sustainable crop production, diverse biomass sources, and efficient processing, Canada has the knowledge and expertise to meet the high-quality standards of diverse global bioeconomy markets. Using sustainably produced crops, wastes, and residues as the primary input in biofuels and other bioproducts, our agriculture and agri-food sector has the opportunity to help strengthen Canada's position as a leader in sustainable agriculture.
A thriving agro-bioeconomy in Canada can provide meaningful reductions in Canadian greenhouse gas emissions, diversify producer revenue streams, and create new jobs and economic value across the country.
As Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, in what ways do you and your department help to build Canada's bioeconomy?
Our government has proposed to invest over $1.5 billion to support the sector's transition to a low-carbon economy, including investments in research and innovation to expand our bioeconomy. This will increase the sector's competitiveness and sustainability while creating new market opportunities. In addition, ongoing initiatives, including the AgriScience Program, the AgriInnovate Program, and the Agricultural Clean Technology Program, accelerate the development, commercialization, and adoption of new products and processes to contribute to a net-zero economy. The Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, announced in July 2022, will also be built around a shared federal-provincial-territorial sustainable vision that prioritizes science, research, and innovation.
What would you say is the biggest roadblock we face in reaching net-zero emissions by 2050?
Our government has committed to reducing Canada’s emissions by 40 to 45 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and putting Canada on a path to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. This goal will require collaboration and innovation across all parts of society. Developing regulations take time, and implementation does as well. Reaching net-zero emissions will require dedication and motivation, but the results will benefit all: clean air and a strong economy.
What’s the most impactful tool we have at our disposal to achieve net-zero emissions?
One of the most impactful tools can be found across our country: nature. Nature has the ability to build resilience and help Canada meet its 2030 and 2050 climate change objectives. Nature-based solutions are actions to conserve, sustainably manage, and restore ecosystems. These actions will help store and capture carbon, mitigate the impacts of climate change, build resilience and improve water quality, and provide critical habitat for Canada’s wildlife. Our climate plan uses all the tools in the toolbox, and our commitment to protecting 25 per cent of our lands and oceans by 2025 is an important part of that plan.
What’s your response to those who feel that reaching net zero is too lofty a goal for many businesses, let alone a country?
Businesses across Canada are developing cleaner ways of doing business — not just to reduce harmful emissions but also to be more resilient and competitive in the 21st-century economy. Canada is on the way to net zero, and we will ensure all Canadians are supported during the transition to a cleaner economy.
When G7 nations committed to reaching net zero by 2050, Canada looked like an underdog in the emissions-reduction race compared to France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
But don’t underestimate Canada’s determination
From powering the grid with renewables to running vehicles off clean hydrogen to reducing methane emissions from cattle, Canadian innovators are building a future that mitigates the worst effects of climate change,
protecting our planet for future generations. After decades in cleantech, I know Canada can be the first to reach net zero. We have the innovation, determination, and resources to get there. And Foresight Canada is the organization to spur this change.
Pursuing Canada’s path to net zero
Since 2018, Foresight has supported nearly 900 ventures and over 150 industry partners. Our expertise has helped secure $1.2 billion in capital and created over 7,000 high-paying jobs, with an economic impact of over $1.5 billion. We are strategizers, ecosystem mappers, and partnership builders, enabling Canada to win the net-zero race.
Our audacious goal wasn’t dreamt up in a vacuum. Canada consistently punches above its weight class in progressive policies, environmental stewardship, and innovation, producing world-changing inventions like insulin, telephones, and pacemakers.
Now, our cleantech innovators are leading global change in spaces like water, agriculture, carbon capture, energy, and the built environment.
Join in the fight
Foresight’s Annual Report outlines the steps to reach this goal. But to triumph in this underdog story, we need to work together.
Read more at foresightcac.com/reports
Jeanette
CEO, Foresight Canada
It’s manure’s moment: fuelling trucks with farm waste
The newest addition to Bluewater Recycling Association’s (BRA) fleet is turning heads on collection routes in rural communities of Southwestern Ontario. The carbon-negative truck, developed in partnership with the Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) and Enbridge Gas, runs on renewable natural gas (RNG) largely made from cow manure produced at a local farm.
What makes it carbon negative?
The truck’s fuel diverts more carbon than it emits. Turning manure into RNG captures methane that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, diverting farm waste and supporting local economic development. The RNG is also used in place of diesel fuel, which further reduces emissions—in just six months, the BRA truck will eliminate emissions from 18,000 litres of diesel.
“Thousands of waste and recycling collection vehicles, travel through our communities, recapturing resources and keeping waste out of our environment. This initiative represents a significant opportunity in further closing the loop by using the organic waste collected to fuel (RNG) and decarbonize our fleets. ”
Spencer
Leefe, Manager of Policy and Research, OWMA
The waste truck is second in a series of carbon-negative ‘firsts’; last year, Ontario’s first carbon-negative bus in Hamilton set new standards for sustainable public transit. Launched as a similar pilot program in partnership with Enbridge Gas, the bus is fuelled by locally sourced RNG produced at the nearby StormFisher Biogas Facility. As leaders strive for a more circular economy, pilot
programs like these are helping to demonstrate the crucial role RNG will play in fighting climate change. Across Ontario, many other regions are producing RNG from landfill and wastewater and using it to fuel commercial and public transit fleets. Today, there are more than 110 RNG facilities operating in North America— 30 of them are in Ontario.
“We are excited to work with the City of Hamilton and Enbridge
Help to switch fleets to
Enbridge Gas is helping fleets transition to compressed natural gas vehicles fuelled by RNG, with a support program that helps governments and stakeholders make the switch smoothly.
It’s also working closely with fleet owners, agribusiness, food processors, municipalities, waste management and other organizations to help decision makers identify, facilitate and lead the way to a clean energy future with RNG.
on this transformational initiative,” says Brandon Moffatt, Vice President, Development & Operations, StormFisher Environmental Ltd. “The use of renewable natural gas as a carbon-negative fuel for public transit is a great example of the steps that need to be taken as we move forward into a net-zero carbon future, and supporting economic development and jobs in Ontario.”
5 reasons fleet owners choose RNG
Transportation currently accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Ontario. While electrification is a solution for passenger and other lightduty vehicles, heavy-duty trucks are difficult to electrify today. This is due to the impact of battery weight on freight payload, lack of charging infrastructure and available time for recharging. For fleet owners, RNG is a practical, ready-now solution with many advantages over electric:
Easy vehicle conversion
Diesel trucks can be replaced one-for-one without compromising performance or range in many applications.
Affordable RNG trucks are half the cost of electric trucks, and the price of RNG fuel is similar to that of diesel.
Reliable and resilient
RNG leverages existing natural gas infrastructure, reducing the need to build new. RNG is stored safely underground and is resistant to severe weather.
Performance and refueling parity with diesel
Like diesel trucks, RNG trucks operate during freezing weather conditions, and can refuel in minutes.
Carbon-pricing exempt Even a blend of RNG can mitigate fuel cost increases.
“We want to use cleaner renewable energy sources to serve our communities while continuing to strive for a more circular economy in all aspects of our operations and help to ensure our municipal members meet their environmental commitments. Having a clean, renewable and local source of energy for our fleet embodies everything BRA believes in. ”
Francis
Veilleux, President of BRA
Building Retrofits — Critical Path to Reaching
Net-Zero Emissions
The building sector accounts for nearly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. Retrofits can reduce carbon emissions substantially while creating economic benefits.
Anne Papmehl
Recognizing the role of Canada’s building sector in meeting its net-zero carbon reduction targets, the federal government has committed over $3.6 billion to finance energy efficiency upgrades and low-carbon retrofits for large buildings.
The Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC) is the only national organization dedicated to green building in Canada and created the Zero Carbon Building standards. Mediaplanet recently spoke with Thomas Mueller, President and CEO of CAGBC, to learn more about the importance of the building sector in helping Canada reach its net-zero targets, increase climate change resiliency, and create jobs.
How critical is the building sector for Canada’s climate aspirations?
Buildings and homes are responsible for about 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), both in Canada and globally. That includes the carbon being generated to operate buildings, such as heating, cooling, and lighting, and the embodied carbon in the materials used to construct the buildings. Thanks to advances in green building technologies, the building sector can play a role in both lowering carbon emissions and increasing building resiliency, helping Canada meet its climate aspirations.
million tonnes of building-sector emissions by 2030, which is a critical means to help Canada reach its net-zero targets.
How do retrofits create jobs and drive supply chain innovation?
Buildings and homes are responsible for about 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), both in Canada and globally.
Why are retrofits such an important part of this?
In Canada, we have hundreds of thousands of existing commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings, and we recognize that carbon reduction at scale cannot happen without retrofitting these buildings to be more energy efficient and emit less carbon. We estimate that retrofits can reduce up to 21.2
When we look at the number of existing commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings that will need to be retrofitted, there are significant opportunities for job creation and skills development. The traditional building trades are often perceived as undesirable because you work outside, and it can be dangerous. Building retrofits are a great way to reposition the industry as something innovative and that requires high-level skills on both the trade and design sides. Retrofits also drive supply chain innovation because they use low-carbon products, materials, and equipment.
How does CAGBC support the retrofit economy?
When we created this non-profit 20 years ago, we were the only organization that identified green building as a holistic approach to reducing or eliminating the environmental impact of the building sector. We did this primarily through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. We were also the first to develop Zero Carbon Building standards
globally and have over 50 ZCB-certified buildings. We continue to provide the building sector with innovative standards and verification services, as well as education, training, market research, and government advocacy efforts that encourage programs, investments, and policies to accelerate zero-carbon buildings and retrofits.
How does the Decarbonizing Canada’s Large Buildings report provide an effective roadmap to the retrofit economy?
With support from the federal government and others, we took it upon ourselves to produce this report to help equip Canadian building owners and policymakers with the tools and information they need to scale up and accelerate deep carbon retrofits in different regions across the country. In the report, we provide details on the actions and technologies needed and the costs. We can build on this information as we advance building retrofits across Canada.
Based in the heart of Montreal, Dawson College is the largest college in Quebec’s CEGEP network and welcomes students in pre-university programs, career and technical programs, and special areas of study.
For several years, the college has maintained a serious dedication to leadership in sustainability.
Dawson College has been Scope 3 carbon neutral since 2018 and has planted over 45,000 trees to offset its carbon footprint. In fact, the college won the 2021 Montreal Climate Change Award because of its commitment to being carbon-neutral forever.
Dawson is also a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Made up of universities and colleges across Canada and around the globe, AASHE rated Dawson College first amongst associate colleges for its 2022 Sustainable Campus Index. In addition, the college made the top 10 list for greenest air and climate, grounds, and transportation for schools.
Leading by example
Dawson’s success in driving sustainable practices comes from years of planning and hard work. As educators, they understand their responsibility to address the global climate crisis and biodiversity loss. That’s why Dawson College took it upon itself to create Sustainable Dawson. This collective effort
of staff and students is the reason the college is acknowledged as a leader in sustainability in academics, operations, planning and administration, engagement, and innovation.
Along with reducing emissions, Dawson’s main objective is to pass these practices on to its students and inspire the next generation of environmentalists. With sustainability as an institutional core value, the college recently won the 2022 International Green Gown Award which named Dawson the Sustainability Institution of the Year. The award validates the college’s mission to teach students through transformative and nuanced education, making them responsible global citizens. Dawson is also a proud member of Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), representing a strong network of colleges across the country working on climate action. CICan has also recognized Dawson’s accomplishments in sustainability.
Ready to work together
Dawson College has made bold choices to be this sustainable and is grateful to the community, staff, and students for joining them in making its
ambitious goals a reality.
Because of their support, the college has developed initiatives like Living Campus — which works to merge community and nature into one harmonic ecosystem on school grounds. This includes hosting over 50,000 bees, a mini orchard, and natural habitats on the gym roof.
It’s clear that educational projects and activities at Dawson are mobilized through a sustainability filter. Now, the college is ready to widen its impact on environmental well-being by upscaling its projects.
Dawson wants to build bigger with like-minded partners who share best practices and its core belief of “well-being for all” — that everybody benefits from connection to nature, inclusivity, and greener choices. The influential organizations forming alliances with Dawson will propel vital next steps toward making a better future for everyone.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAWSON COLLEGE
PHOTO CREDIT: ADRIEN WILLIAMS Thomas Mueller President & CEO, CAGBC
LemayLe Phénix
Investing in Plant-Based Foods for Health, Wealth, and Sustainability
In the responsible transition to a greener Canadian economy, the agri-foods sector is ripe with opportunity. The potential to significantly lower the climate impact of our agri-food production is being realized through collaborative Canadian innovation, and increased investment in plant-based protein specifically can be a powerful driver of climate resiliency and economic growth.
D.F. McCourt
There’s no single industry to blame for our climate crisis. The legacy of unsustainable emissions and practices lies on the shoulders of every sector, and it’s on all of us, consumers and producers alike, to work to correct it. A lot of ink gets spilled about the usual suspects — energy and transportation, but some of the greatest potential for meaningful progress toward a net-zero economy is actually found in our fields, in our refrigerators, and on our forks.
Agriculture is one of Canada’s most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and there’s a lot of room for relatively straightforward gains that can be driven at a consumer and business innovation level. By changing our collective diet, even in small and approachable ways, we can help drive a considerable shift in our climate footprint, jumpstarting new economic growth in the process. With this in mind, in 2018, investment and support from the federal government spurred the creation of Protein Industries Canada, an industry-led not-for-profit tasked with fostering the innovation that will make those choices easier and more beneficial.
“Every choice a consumer makes to replace meat in their diet leads to an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” says Bill Greuel, CEO of Protein Industries Canada. “What we’re trying to do at Protein Industries Canada is help industry create products that are more accessible to consumers who want to make the choice to use more plant-based foods in their diet because of environmental concerns.”
sumption to plant-based proteins, they estimate we would see a 0.85 gigaton CO2 equivalent reduction by 2030, equal to about 95 per cent of the total emissions from the avi ation industry. That’s a lot of payoff for something as painless as making every tenth burger with a next-generation plant-based patty.
Increasing investment in Canada’s plant-based foods sector can not only directly reduce emissions but also drive improvement on critical secondary metrics like water usage, nitrogen fixation, and carbon sequestration. “The peas, lentils, chickpeas, and fava beans that we’re growing by the millions of acres in Western Canada require very little to no synthetic nitrogen fertilizer because they’ve got the ability to fix their own nitrogen and sequester carbon in soil,” explains Greuel.
Every choice a consumer makes to replace meat in their diet leads to an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
A huge and quantifiable difference
A recent independent report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that animal agriculture is responsible for 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, roughly on par with the entirety of the transportation sector. By transitioning just 11 per cent of global meat con-
“Almost all of our acres are rain-fed, not on irrigated land. Pulse crops are relatively drought-tolerant and can be adapted to every soil zone in Western Canada.”
The opportunity is now
The $485 million in innovative investments that Protein Industries Canada is managing also results in considerable economic and food sovereignty benefits, creating new green jobs and securing Canada’s place at the forefront of this fast-growing industry at a time when first-movers are seeing their efforts rewarded. “This is important and time-sensitive,” says Greuel. “Canada is not the only country that woke up and realized that the plant-based food sector is going to be measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars. There’s a race going on a global basis to own a significant portion of the worldwide plant-based food market. If we don’t get this right in Canada today, we’re going to be playing catch-up for the next 50 years.”
At the end of the day, alternative proteins are an unbelievably potent vector for rapid and meaningful climate action. As BCG emphasizes, there’s no other sector where the CO2 equivalent savings per dollar of invested capital is higher. So, yes, the battle for net zero is going to be fought in the energy and transportation sectors, but it’s also being fought in our grocery carts.
Learn more about the innovative work occurring in Canada’s plant-based food and ingredients sector by visiting proteinindustries canada.ca
Canada.
This article was sponsored by Protein Industries
Bill Greuel CEO, Protein Industries Canada
How Canadian Start-Ups Are Drawing on Nature to Help Reach Net Zero
The path to net zero is paved with Canadian companies relying on nature’s power to develop eco-friendly solutions. Natural Products Canada (NPC) supports these bio-based innovations through its comprehensive system of advice, strategic connections, and financial support.
NPC has invested in dozens of Canadian companies that represent eco-friendly solutions in a range of industries. Companies to watch out for include:
Bioform Technologies is addressing the plastics crisis with a unique technology that uses 3D printing and renewable, plant-derived materials to create compostable bioplastics for containers, food packaging, and agricultural plastics.
Entosystem has developed an innovative insect-rearing process that creates a healthy source of animal feed and soil enhancers while upcycling food waste and reducing GHGs.
Performance BioFilaments uses a sustainable biomaterial derived from bi-products of the pulp and paper industry to improve the structural performance of concrete and mortar while reducing CO2 emissions.
Zila Works has created a bio-plastic from hemp to help snowboard manufacturers and others lower their carbon
“The challenges to the health of our planet grow more acute every day,” says Shelley King, CEO of Natural Products Canada. “These innovations supported by NPC’s advice, connections, and programs represent a powerful plan to get Canadian, planet-friendly solutions into action quickly and efficiently.”
How Humber Graduates Are Engineering a Sustainable Future
New Bachelor of Engineering — the Built Environment degree prepares graduates to tackle climate change through net-zero solutions.
Humber College’s Bachelor of Engineering — the Built Environment degree program prepares graduates for employment in future-forward jobs that exist now but will proliferate in the years to come as part of a more sustainabilityfocused society.
Sustainability is woven into the three engineering degrees — the Built Environment, Mechatronics, and Information Systems Engineering — offered at Humber College. The Built Environment program was introduced in 2021, and courses are specifically structured to teach students how to design net-zero and climatepositive buildings that are adaptable and resilient for decades to come.
“Buildings are not static concrete bricks and mortar — we don’t see them as that anymore. We see a block of buildings as a network of systems,” says Dr. Martine Spinks, Associate Dean of Design and Built Environment in Humber’s Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology. “They’re feeding into energy grids, and they’re adaptable. We teach our students to optimize how buildings operate and design them to consider the possibilities.”
Built Environment refers to everything we live, work, and play in, including physical structures like buildings and the infrastructure that supports them. The Built Environment engineering degree program at
The market opportunity
Three intertwined strategies have unlocked every prior environmental challenge — pollution reduction technologies, non-polluting alternatives, and cleanup. Climate change is driven by a century of accumulated greenhouse gas pollution. “Electrify everything” enthusiasm often overlooks that bio-based decarbonization cleans up past pollution.
Biomass absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows, sequestering some in the soil and the rest in the plant. Many bioeconomy production processes pair easily with carbon capture and sequestration, creating net carbon dioxide absorption solutions.
Canada is poised to become the biomass breadbasket for a decarbonizing world, but capturing the opportunity is complex.
The market-driving policies
A dizzying array of new policies and programs are reshaping decarbonization markets. These are headlined by the U.S. Congress funding US$65 billion for technology grants, new emission reduction regulations, and a sweeping set of new tax incentives in the United States — including bioeconomy incentives for transportation, industry, and energy.
These recent developments sit atop a set of existing policies and programs that could support the growth of nascent bioeconomy companies.
Navigating wisely
Attracting investors often depends on a clear understanding of this complex landscape. Developing resilient business strategies is challenging when your earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is predicated on tax incentives that could end, regulations that can change, and emission trading programs exposed to extreme volatility.
AJW knows that it’s critical for innovators to be clear-eyed and avoid traps. Our team has the insight, access, and experience to help you succeed. Let’s get to work.
Humber incorporates elements of architecture, civil engineering, and building systems engineering with a focus on sustainability. In addition to more traditional courses like Statics and Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, students complete specialization courses in Sustainable Communities Design, Building Automation Systems, and Resilience and Environmental Assessment.
Buildings are not static concrete bricks and mortar — we don’t see them as that anymore. We see a block of buildings as a network of systems.
21st-century engineers in a sustainable society
With small class sizes and labs representing realworld environments, students get a personalized learning experience to become industry leaders.
Humber’s three engineering disciplines have a common first-year platform. Students then move into their chosen field in the Built Environment,
Mechatronics, or Information Systems Engineering. In their final year, students come together to design a solution to a real engineering problem in their capstone projects.
With the provincial government’s Green Investment Fund, roles in retrofitting and other sustainable engineering jobs are in high demand. As a result, graduates of Humber’s engineering degrees will be well-prepared for the sustainable careers of the future.
To learn more about the Built Environment engineering degree program at Humber, visit humber.ca/engineering
This article was sponsored by Humber College.
Dr. Martine Spinks Associate Dean, Design & Built Environment, Faculty of Applied Sciences & Technology, Humber College
Sylvie Lendvay
PHOTO COURTESY OF HUMBER COLLEGE
Shelley King CEO, Natural Products Canada
Richard W. Corey Partner, AJW, Inc.
Christopher Hessler Founding Partner, AJW, Inc.
Sue Coueslan, Vice-President, Strategy and Partnerships, Natural Products Canada