含羞草传媒

U of T-led collaboration to develop community-tailored clean energy technologies

Kate Neville, with snowy hills in the backround

It鈥檚 important to develop clean energy systems that meet the needs of individual communities, says Kate Neville, one of the lead researchers of the CANSTOREnergy project (photo by Kate Harris)

A 含羞草传媒-led collaboration developing clean energy technologies that can be tailored to the needs of different communities from 颁补苍补诲补鈥檚 remote North to populous southern Ontario 鈥 . 

The CANSTOREnergy project brings together researchers from 11 Canadian universities, along with community, utility and industry partners, to develop technologies that convert carbon-based emissions into useful products, such as fuels and raw materials, and create a net-zero means of seasonal storage for renewable energy that meets specific community needs. 

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Led by researchers from U of T鈥檚 initiative, the collaborative effort is being supported by $24 million through the federal 鈥檚 . 

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The project will deliberately focus on two very different regions Yukon and the southern Ontario city of Hamilton in recognition that there is no one-size-fits-all approach in a vast country like Canada. 

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鈥淲e want to think about addressing these big global challenges such as climate change. But we 诲辞苍鈥檛 solve them at the global scale,鈥 says Kate Neville, one of the project鈥檚 lead researchers and an associate professor in U of T鈥檚 department of political science and School of the Environment in the Faculty of Arts & Science. 

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鈥淵ou solve them by thinking about what those challenges look like in lots of places and working with communities to find solutions that meet multiple needs.鈥 

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The projects two sites highlight the different challenges Canadian regions face when considering how carbon conversion technologies can be successfully adapted to existing infrastructure, economic forces and social goals 

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Yukon, for example, is not included in the electrical grid that connects much of the U.S. and Canada, and seasonal extremes limit the availability of renewable energy. As a result, many communities need to import diesel fuel during the harsh winter months 鈥 which comes at a high cost both environmentally and financially.  

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Hamilton, by contrast, is a densely populated urban centre that is plugged into the main North American power grid. Heavy industry fuels the local economy, but the environmental costs, such as air pollution, are unevenly distributed and disproportionately impact low-income and marginalized communities. 

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鈥淪cience and research are essential to solving the greatest challenges facing humanity today and in the future,鈥 says Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why our government is committed to continuing support for researchers who are pushing the boundaries of innovation, by investing in transformative, high-risk / high-reward research that will address issues that impact Canadians in all sectors of our economy and society.鈥

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At the core of the project is a commitment to engaging community members about their energy challenges and goals and how carbon conversion technologies could fit into their future. 

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David Sinton is the nominated principal investigator of CANSTOREnergy and academic lead of the Climate Positive Energy institutional strategic initiative (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

This engagement could ultimately determine the success of carbon conversion technologies, says David Sinton, nominated principal investigator of CANSTOREnergy and academic lead of Climate Positive Energy, one of several U of T and a professor of mechanical engineering in U of T's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. 

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Technologies that perform in the lab 诲辞苍鈥檛 always work as well under real-world conditions, adds Sinton, who notes that the urgency of the climate challenge calls for an expedient way to pre-empt issues that may crop up during deployment. 

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鈥淭oo often, engineers 鈥 and I have experience in this 鈥 innovate while focusing on the technology, which is totally understandable. But when tech is developed without guidance from an end user 鈥 the subsequent iterations can be costly. 

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We don't have time for that decades-long iterative cycle that is the norm. We need a new approach and are testing that here.鈥 

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颁础狈厂罢翱搁贰苍别谤驳测鈥檚 research team comprises engineers, social scientists, economists and other experts from McMaster University, Yukon University, University of Waterloo, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, University of Winnipeg, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Calgary, Carleton University and Dalhousie University. 

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The researchers will receive guidance from stakeholders and advisers in industry, utilities, government and Indigenous nations. 

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"The 含羞草传媒 welcomes the federal government鈥檚 critical support for this important research,鈥 says Leah Cowen, U of T's vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. 鈥淐anada enjoys a global competitive advantage in the area of carbon capture research 鈥 and the CANSTOREnergy team, with its collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, will build on these strengths and help to optimize this technology to meet the needs of communities across the country.鈥 

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Since environmental justice is at the forefront of the CANSTOREnergy project, Neville says 颈迟鈥檚 vital that communities have a say in developing the clean energy systems that could power and empower them. 

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鈥淚t鈥檚 about imagining community futures in ways that meet the goals of equity and fairness,鈥 says Neville. 

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鈥淚t鈥檚 thinking about how technology can help us undo some of the unjust systems that we have and help build something that is not only about climate change, but about a more just future.鈥 

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