Grant: Industrial Research Chairs

Energy sustainability, greenhouse gas production that lead to climate change, environmental emissions, peak oil, and long-term energy security are important energy drivers that societies need to address as we accumulate various risks that will impact future generations as a result of our strong reliance on fossil fuels. The common research themes of the Alternative Energy Chair are to focus on innovative technologies that can be commercially implemented to increase the renewable energy ratio of Canada, thereby addressing energy drivers simultaneously. For the last 30 years, Canada has derived 16% of its primary energy from renewable sources. The Chair research program will focus mainly on renewable energy technologies that can be implemented to increase the renewable energy ratio in Canada. Four research themes will be investigated to achieve this goal: 1. use of district energy systems using solar, biomass and enhanced geothermal to displace natural gas and electricity used for heating and cooling 2. development of in-stream kinetic turbine technologies in cold climates to generate power 3. bioenergy combined heat and power systems to achieve the highest revenue per bone dry ton for energy production from biomass 4. plug-in hybrid vehicles with production of new renewable power to displace motor fuels. The fundamental understanding obtained from this research will provide a foundation for developing new alternative-energy applications, some of which may have significant commercial value in the near future. In addition, the research will lead to strategies to increase the renewable energy ratio that can be integrated as part of energy planning within Canadian utilities.