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New research by think tank SecondStreet.org highlights 25 innovative examples of entrepreneurs developing new ways to reduce carbon dioxide usage or repurpose the gas into useful products. From using captured CO2 to make crayons and vodka to diamonds and yoga mats, the report discusses how governments can support entrepreneurs to reduce emissions.
“Climate change discourse in Canada is often dominated by doom and gloom scenarios,” said SecondStreet.org President Colin Craig. “Canadians should know that entrepreneurs have developed some amazing technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or turn them into useful products like vodka, diamonds and the blue food colouring for M&Ms.”
Some highlights from the 25 examples identified in the report include:
- Badminton rackets, bicycles and more – A Calgary-based start-up is building a facility that makes carbon nanofibers from captured CO2 and methane. Nanofibers are used to make a wide array of products: badminton rackets, bicycles, running shoe soles and batteries to name a few.
- Vodka and hand sanitizer – Air Company, a New York-based company is producing vodka and hand-sanitizer using captured carbon dioxide.
- Shared technology – Several companies in Alberta’s oilsands have created a partnership – the Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) – to share technologies and resources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This cooperative effort has resulted in emissions falling by 28% per barrel between 2000 and 2017.
- Blue M&Ms, animal feed and biofuels – A Markham company, Pond Technologies, is capturing CO2 and feeding it to algae. The algae then grow and are processed into biofuels, bioplastics, nutraceuticals, animal feed and phycocyanin – a food colorant that is used for blue M&Ms.
- Diamonds – A New York-based company is using captured carbon dioxide to produce diamonds that are almost indistinguishable as their natural counterparts. For every one-carat diamond produced, 20 tonnes of CO2 are removed from the atmosphere.
“Canada’s energy sector is not only actively engaged in reducing their own emissions, they’re helping many clean tech start-ups,” added Craig. “If Canadian government policies continue to make it difficult for energy development in Canada, the world will purchase more oil and gas products from countries like Saudi Arabia that are working against efforts to reduce emissions.”
To view SecondStreet.org’s new policy brief 25 Innovative Carbon Tech Examples – click here
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