VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 19, 2023 /CNW/ – The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is announcing its allocation of $2.82 million in non-dilutive funding to develop commercial pathways for innovative B.C.-based solutions that support the measurement, monitoring, and verification (MMV) of carbon emission reduction, removal and avoidance.
“B.C. is uniquely positioned to be a world leader in the global shift to clean technology and a low-carbon economy. Promoting made-in-B.C. innovative solutions for decarbonization and emissions reduction moves our province even closer to meeting its CleanBC goals,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. “I applaud the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy for their efforts in recognizing and funding projects that have the potential to be real game-changers in carbon management and realize a healthier future.”
Through this investment CICE is supporting the commercialization of MMV solutions which are vital to assessing carbon emissions reductions, removal and avoidance at scale. This investment will help advance the expansion of the global carbon credit market and spur further investment in emissions-reductions programs and technologies.
“British Columbia has a unique opportunity to lead the advancement of carbon management solutions by establishing MMV pathways and innovations,” said Todd Sayers, Chief Operating Officer of the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy. “CICE is proud to lead catalytic investment into Arca, Metaspectral, Miraterra, and Quatern Limited Partnership and looks forward to seeing their solutions reach global scaling and climate impact potential.”
CICE launched the call for MMV innovation in June 2023, and welcomed over 100 potential applicants. Using an intelligent risk-taking framework, CICE strives to maximize potential impact of breakthrough clean energy and climate solutions by:
- Identifying the optimal convergence points of decarbonization and real-world readiness backed by CICE research and industry consultation
- Accelerating clean energy adoption and growth by mobilizing collaboration between government, industry, investors, academia and Indigenous rights holders
- De-risking investment in early stage cleantech and climate solutions through a government and industry co-funding model
MMV funding recipients include:
Arca is developing MMV technology for quantifying and validating carbon dioxide removal via carbon mineralization – a geochemical process that removes atmospheric CO2 and permanently stores it as rock – in alkaline waste. While Arca’s carbon dioxide removal technologies are currently focused on mine tailings, its MMV technology will be applicable to all methods of surficial carbon mineralization – which are estimated to have a total carbon dioxide removal (CDR) capacity in excess of 1 billion tonnes per year.
Metaspectral is creating a precise and cost-efficient method of assessing, quantifying, and tracking the carbon sequestration capacity of land for various industries, including agriculture. AI models ingest hyperspectral imagery in real-time to measure concentrations and fluxes of greenhouse gasses more accurately – specifically CO2 and CH4, but also N2O. With a more efficient way to measure the carbon sequestration capacity of large fields, farmers are able to optimize their practices – such as tillage, over-cropping, fertilization, and watering – to maximize the carbon sequestration potential of their land.
Miraterra is developing a faster, more affordable way to test the soil quality of farm fields. Its proprietary Raman sensors provide near instantaneous measurement of key soil components including pH, soil organic carbon, soil organic matter, and NPK. This technology is fast, delivers results at approximately one-third the cost of conventional sampling, eliminates the need for toxic chemicals in conventional soil testing, and will ultimately be deployable in-field. This funding will accelerate the world’s ability to measure permanence of carbon sequestered in soil via Miraterra’s breakthrough carbon sub-pool measurement system.
Quatern Limited Partnership is a collaboration between Quatsino First Nation and Western Forest Products Inc., who will be implementing a technology to measure the change in carbon sequestration of forests due to large-scale fertilization efforts. A technology called Treeid will be used to analyze growth rates of individual trees using LiDAR data collected several years apart. In addition to quantifying the rate at which trees sequester carbon post-fertilization, this technology could also be applied to other forest management treatments such as reforestation and thinning.
Past CICE funding recipients include: Anodyne Chemistries, Atlas Power Technologies Inc., Cascadia Seaweed, Corvus Energy Inc., Ekona Power, H2 Portable Power Corp, HTEC, Hydra Energy, Hydron Energy, Illuming Power Inc., Invinity Energy Systems, Lafarge Canada, Mangrove Lithium, Metro Vancouver, Moment Energy Inc., Parkland Refining BC Ltd., Rainhouse Manufacturing Canada Ltd., and Takachar
About CICE
The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is an independent, not-for-profit corporation that grants early-stage funding to fast-track the commercialization of British Columbia’s most impactful clean energy solutions – from Canada to the world. We match the urgency and efficiency of the companies we fund, driving innovation like the planet depends on it. Because it does. Together with our climate-first community of innovators, industry leaders, academia, government, and Indigenous partners, we advance future pathways to net-zero – leveraging B.C.’s clean energy advantages to attract investment, create high paying green jobs and build sustainable economic prosperity for decades to come.
