Grant: College - University Idea to Innovation Grants

Providing potable water and clean food to feed the hungry planet are now priorities and daunting challenges forevery country. These challenges have arisen due to the combination of dramatic global weather pattern change,disastrous man-made environmental pollution, and a rapidly growing world population, that is to surpass 8.5Billion in 2030. One promising solution is growing our food and medicine in an engineered environment inclosed greenhouses (CGs) for optimum and reliable plant growth year-round. With an estimated 60% of theenergy produced globally converted to waste-heat (<100°C), this research program aims to develop and test thenext-generation of CGs, equipped with waste-heat driven technologies, to produce clean food and fresh waterunder any climatic conditions sustainably.The College University Idea to Innovation (CU-I2I) program combines the expertise and infrastructure of theLaboratory for Alternative Energy Conversion (LAEC) at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the horticulturecollege programs and Institute for Sustainable Horticulture of Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) withindustrial partners: i) Argus Control Systems, a pioneer company in automation and control of greenhouses; ii)the BC Greenhouse Growers' Association; and iii) Nexus Biofuel, a BC biofuel plant company capable ofconverting farm and municipality waste into high-quality fuel and heat. This program covers an array of novelkey clean technologies and is crucial for growing crops and providing climate control and fresh water, pavingthe road for the mass market and global acceptance of CGs.From Waste to Clean Food will strengthen the research links between college, university, and industry, aswell as accelerating the development and commercialization of the needed technologies for sustainable CGs. Itis well aligned with the CU-I2I objectives and has significant potential for IP development. Canadiangreenhouse growers and clean tech companies will further benefit from the training of HQP with skills highlyin demand in clean energy and water systems, greenhouse climate control and new cropping systems.