Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

In Canada, the transportation sector is the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the federal government's strengthened climate plan, Canada is committed to reducing its carbon emission by 40-45% below the 2015 level by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050. To reach this goal, it is critical to develop clean and renewable fuels for the transportation sector. In addition, although the use of renewable energy leads to a reduction in the CO2 emissions from the energy sector, the burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation is still responsible for over 40% of global CO2 emissions. To address these challenges, the funded NSERC research program led by the applicant aims for developing clean transportation fuels and CO2 solid sorbents from biomass and organic waste using energy-saving and green processes. In general, the funded program focus on the: (i) development of microwave (MW)-assisted hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) for bio-oil production; (ii) catalytic supercritical ethanol/methanol for bio-oil upgrading over the MW-synthesized catalysts; and (iii) application of MW-assisted hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) followed by heteroatom doping for preparing CO2 solid sorbents. To complete this program, a microwave reactor (Multiwave 7000, Anton Paar) is requested in this RTI application. Besides, a range of collaborative research work across Atlantic Canada can benefit from this proposed equipment, and HQPs will be given the equal opportunity to be trained on this state-of-art equipment. Overall, new technologies for producing valuable-added biofuels and biomaterials will be developed with the help of the requested equipment, which can not only lead to the growth the small- and medium-sized enterprises in PEI and other provinces but also strengthen Canada's place as one of the leading countries in the clean tech sector.