L-R: Stéphane Germain, president of GHGSat; John Adams, president and CEO, NGIF Capital and NGIF Accelerator and managing partner of Cleantech Ventures; Rebecca Schulz, minister of environment and protected areas; Scott Volk, director of emissions and innovation, Tourmaline Oil; Justin Riemer, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta. (Supplied)

By rdnewsNOW Staff

$40M INVESTMENT

Alberta launches Advanced Materials Challenge to further advanced material innovation

Nov 14, 2024 | 10:12 AM

The Government of Alberta is investing $40 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program into an Advanced Materials Challenge in an effort to advance technologies that will turn everyday items that would otherwise be wasted or dumped in landfills into modern, low-emission products.

Officials say these technologies should help create jobs, reduce emissions, and help Alberta’s manufacturing industry to become a global leader.

“We have the resources, expertise and entrepreneurs needed to create some of the most advanced materials in the world. This funding competition will help develop new and exciting technologies that reduce emissions, create jobs, reuse waste and keep growing our economy,” commented Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz.

Demand is increasing globally for advanced materials, new or significantly improved materials that provide an advantage in performance when compared to conventional materials, the government says. Advanced materials have already been used to create new construction materials, improved batteries and fuel cells, and lighter and stronger aircrafts, bicycles, and golf clubs.

The funding competition will be led by Emissions Reductions Alberta and support scale-up, pilot, and demonstration and first-of-kind commercial technologies that improve the extraction, production, manufacturing, and performance of new and existing materials and products in Alberta.

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“Enhancing existing products and developing new materials with superior performance while embracing circular economy strategies will help deliver deeper emissions reductions, enhance supply chain resiliency and strengthen industrial competitiveness,” Justin Riemer, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta said. “This funding, sourced from Alberta’s TIER regulation, is critical and the possibilities are endless.”

The competition is open to a wide a range of applicants including researchers, businesses, municipalities and Indigenous communities.

Alberta representatives add that the focus of this funding is to help create technologies that turn resources into modern, new products. This could include emerging technologies extracting high value metals like vanadium, titanium and lithium found within natural resources such as bitumen and creating novel, carbon-absorbing materials. These could then be used to improve everything from construction materials and consumer electronics to aircrafts and hockey sticks.

Applications for the Advanced Materials Challenge close on January 22, 2025, and successful applicants will be eligible for up to $5 million.