Grant: College and Community Innovation Program

Located in the heart of resource-based northwestern Alberta, Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) is very much aware of the pollutants and wastes generated by industries and municipalities in the area. As a result, the College, with its partners and stakeholders, has dedicated the last decade and close to $1.5 million developing local sustainable solutions. Our efforts are currently focused on three on-going applied research projects. One of the projects, turning CO2 and air pollutants into micro-algae products, has resulted in a system that is far more efficient for CO2 capture than any yet reported. Another project involves a significant improvement in the conditioning process of white spruce seedlings. The benefits include increased seedling survival, enhanced reforestation, and more carbon capture. The third project will divert treated municipal wastewater from waterways and apply it to a hybrid poplar research grove. The results: enhanced tree growth, increased CO2 capture, and the production of industrial wood fiber. Ultimately each project contributes not just to a reduction of our region's wastes but harnesses natural processes to turn atmospheric carbon and other (p)ollutants (t)o useful (p)roducts (P2P). GPRC will also create a new student-driven, faculty-guided ""P2P Information Center"" and eventually create a world-first ""P2P Institute"". This NSERC-funded initiative will enable GPRC to expand these innovative P2P technologies toward commercial application. This Pollutants-to-Product initiative is thus a prime example of how to move towards a sustainable society through applied research, technology innovation and commercialization.