With the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) wrapped up, the hard work of transitioning to a greener economy lies ahead.
How do we get there from here?
The new 不良研究所 Centre for Innovation in Storage and Conversion of Energy (McISCE) plans to be a key contributor in moving us closer to a more sustainable future.
Launched in Spring 2021, McISCE received a welcome boost in its quest this fall in the form of a $2-million donation from TD Bank Group (TD). The generous support will help bolster research capacity in innovative, carbon-free energy solutions, build a community of researchers in the field, and train students to become agents of change who can drive forward the advanced clean energy storage technologies of the new green economy.
With current technology, energy can be harvested from alternatives to fossil fuels, such as wind, solar and hydro power. But the challenges of long-term storage and conversion of this energy impede its widespread use.
That鈥檚 where McISCE鈥檚 cutting-edge research comes in. The centre aims to become one of the world鈥檚 leading sites for carbon-free energy conversion and storage innovation.
鈥淓verybody is talking about transitioning to a low-carbon economy, and clean energy is a key element of this strategy,鈥� says George Demopoulos, Professor in the Department of Mining Materials Engineering and McISCE co-founder. His lab focuses on research into low environmental footprint clean technologies and is exploring the development of advanced lithium-ion batteries for storing solar energy and powering electric vehicles. 鈥淐lean energy and clean technologies are those that are environmentally sustainable and respectful of resources. They鈥檙e clean in terms of material sourcing, recycling, and energy,鈥� he explains.
鈥淭he donation is a real catalyst for us,鈥� says Demopoulos. 鈥淚t strengthens McISCE so we can launch new projects we wouldn鈥檛 be able to otherwise.鈥�
The donation through the TD Ready Commitment, the Bank鈥檚 global corporate citizenship platform, will also facilitate the centre鈥檚 educational mission by enabling it to hire a coordinator for activities and workshops; it will support a liaison person who will connect the University鈥檚 research with industry, looking for pathways for transferring knowledge and technology into the local and national economy; and it will provide seed money for especially promising initiatives that need a boost before they can be competitive in applications for other funding.
Perhaps most significantly, the donation will support students who work in McISCE鈥檚 labs. 鈥淥ur primary product is the people who are trained in our labs and are then hired by companies and government organizations,鈥� stresses Demopoulos. 鈥淎nd once out there, they become agents of change. That鈥檚 where we鈥檒l make the biggest difference.鈥�
The donation aligns with the commitment made by TD to support and help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy 鈥� including renewable and clean energy technologies, businesses, and processes.
鈥淎t TD, we believe that we have a role to play when it comes to driving sustainable growth for the customers and communities we serve, and the economies we support,鈥� said Norie Campbell, Group Head and General Counsel, TD Bank Group. 鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to support the 不良研究所 Centre for Innovation in Storage and Conversion of Energy, and the enthusiasm and ingenuity of the innovators that help inspire positive change.鈥�
Based in the Faculty of Engineering, the centre鈥檚 approximately 40 professors and their groups are spread across the faculties of Science, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Management.
There are several steps to creating a broad clean energy program, and the first problem has been largely solved: generating clean, renewable energy from solar, wind, or geothermal sources. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got those technologies, they鈥檙e cost-effective, and they can scale. We haven鈥檛 scaled them, but that鈥檚 a question of political will rather than technology,鈥� says Jeffrey Bergthorson, Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and co-founder of McISCE.
鈥淭he challenges now are that we need more energy, doubling or tripling our electricity production,鈥� adds Bergthorson, who is also the Associate Director of the Trottier Institute for Sustainable Engineering and Design (TISED). 鈥淎nd we need to provide storage solutions so that the energy is there when we need it. The wind is not always blowing, and the sun鈥檚 not always shining.鈥�
The answer lies in developing alternative sources of energy and in creating effective approaches to storing this energy once it鈥檚 been produced, essentially saving it for a rainy day 鈥� or season. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not talking about storing solar or wind energy over a few hours 鈥� we鈥檙e looking at long-term storage, such as from summer to winter,鈥� says Sylvain Coulombe, Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and another of McISCE鈥檚 co-founders. 鈥淎nd often that also means converting the energy into something else that can be more easily transported and stored.鈥�
Hydrogen, for instance, has earned a high profile as a potential alternative fuel, but, while plentiful and renewable, it is extremely difficult to store and transport. So, its viability as an alternative fuel lies in developing ways to convert and store it in some other form.
鈥淗ydrogen has the potential to be a clean energy commodity, but the problem is how can we store it for heavy duty transportation or long-distance energy delivery, or even for international energy trade,鈥� says Bergthorson, whose Alternative Fuels lab is exploring the use of 鈥渕etal fuels鈥� as a means of storing energy and even for producing hydrogen on demand.
鈥淥ne idea is to use aluminum as a recyclable fuel and renewable energy commodity. The aluminum can later be burned with water to release hydrogen on demand rather than transporting and storing hydrogen itself. Further, it鈥檚 completely sustainable, as you can keep re-using the aluminum over and over 鈥� it鈥檚 a circular fuel.鈥�
Using metals to store fuel offers another important advantage: availability. 鈥淭here鈥檚 only so much lithium, and if we try to make lithium-ion batteries for everything, we鈥檙e going to run out,鈥� says Bergthorson. 鈥淏ut we have much more iron and aluminum, and the more materials you bring in, the lower the overall cost of the system.鈥�
In his lab, Coulombe and his team are exploring ways to electrify chemical processes using plasma processes. Plasma, the fourth state of matter, is a highly-reactive gas that conducts electricity and thus, plasma processes can be entirely powered with renewable electricity. Several heavy industries and emerging ones in Quebec and several provinces in Canada could become 鈥渁ll-electric鈥� with plasma technologies.
鈥淢ost large chemical production facilities are powered by fossil fuel, and these processes usually operate at high temperatures,鈥� says Coulombe. 鈥淲ith plasma we can obtain and sometimes surpass the performances of these traditional chemical processes, while being much more energy-efficient and sustainable. Further, plasma processes can drive chemical reactions that would not be possible otherwise.鈥�
Research like Coulombe鈥檚 could help transform large-scale industrial processes while reducing emissions 鈥� a hopeful step toward a more sustainable future.
This article was聽originally published on the site.