Can businesses use tech to tackle the climate crisis?

Businesses are known to largely contribute to climate change. Companies, especially large industrial corporations, overwhelmingly emit greenhouse gases. Smaller businesses, too, often have a larger carbon footprint than individual consumers.

The Government of Canada is aware of the climate crisis and is working to lower the country’s emissions. Canada passed the Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act in 2021, which promises that Canada will either emit zero greenhouse gases or offset its emissions by 2050. The government also introduced the Net-Zero Challenge, which aims to encourage businesses to develop their own plans to reach net-zero emissions to comply with upcoming regulations.

Every Canadian company has a part to play in reducing their carbon footprint. Some companies, however, have ambitions to actively reverse and mitigate climate damage. Read ahead to learn more about the companies on the frontlines of the climate crisis and the technologies they’re using to fight climate change.

Is carbon capture the answer?

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the process of recovering carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil-fuel emissions and storing it permanently underground. It has been promoted as an effective method to support efforts to reach net-zero, as CO2 is stored in the ground rather than the atmosphere.

However, research has criticized this strategy. A 2022 report by the UK Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis studied 13 CCS projects and found that only three performed as they were meant to.

Another report drew a similar conclusion closer to home. The Quest plant, a CCS facility operated by Shell in Alberta, had previously been promoted as a strong example of how CCS significantly reduces carbon footprints. However, a report by Global Witness found that the facility only sequesters 48 per cent of the CO2 it emits, which is 90 per cent lower than the industry’s capture rate standard for CCS projects. Despite implementing CCS processes, the Global Witness report concluded that the Quest plant and similar CCS projects were significant greenhouse gas emitters. The report also claimed that the fossil fuel industry must be phased out to meet net-zero. Shell, however, has rejected these claims, calling them patently false.

Regenerative agriculture

Despite the criticism, CCS shouldn’t be thrown out altogether. One example of a net-win Canadian CCS project is regenerative agriculture, a type of farming focused on improving the environment’s health. This form of agriculture uses several techniques, such as covering the soil with plants that passively isolate carbon from the atmosphere. These cover crops can be sold, allowing farmers to make money by sequestering carbon. Some sources say regenerative agriculture could become an important tool to mitigate climate change. Régénération Canada offers a free map of Canadian farms using regenerative agriculture so consumers can buy from offering these practices.

Biochar

Another company using CCS to fight climate change is the Canadian startup venture Airex Energy, which has committed to building the country’s first industrial biochar plant alongside lumber company Groupe Rémabec and waste disposal company SUEZ. Biochar is a material created from a process known as pyrolysis, which converts raw material such as wood chips into charred material similar to charcoal.

Biochar has various applications, including water treatment, laying asphalt and agriculture as a soil amendment. Biochar’s properties allow it to passively act as a CCS material and isolate carbon from the atmosphere. It may become a viable CCS method because it is produced from lumber waste products and offers a high CO2 absorption capacity.

Nuclear fusion

Beyond CCS, nuclear fusion is an in-progress solution that could lead to sustainable power generation in the future. Nuclear fission is our current method of nuclear power, which consists of splitting an atom apart. Nuclear fusion, however, occurs when atomic nuclei are combined to form a single heavier one.

Canadian companies, including industry leader General Fusion, are on the cutting edge of this potential. General Fusion is a Vancouver-based company focused on developing a fusion power device based on magnetized target fusion.

One of the benefits of nuclear fusion is that it wouldn’t create any dangerous nuclear waste. On top of that, a chain-reaction meltdown would be virtually impossible because of the conditions required to start and maintain a fusion reaction. On the other hand, nuclear fusion has produced over 250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste to date. Additionally,  waste disposal is an ongoing challenge because nuclear waste can take centuries to inactivate.

Although fusion is still decades away from being a viable energy source, scientists are excited about having access to safe, clean, renewable energy in the future.

A combination of solutions

Net-zero can’t be achieved overnight or with one single solution. Despite the growth of green technologies, carbon emissions continue to increase. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that there is more than a 50 per cent chance that global temperatures will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius in warming. Fortunately, according to the United Nations, net-zero is realistic and achievable because affordable technology that can help us reach net-zero already exists. Investing in clean, renewable energy sources and environmentally friendly companies can also support Canada’s efforts to reach net-zero. Even though overcoming the climate disaster can seem impossible, governments and experts remain optimistic that the problem can be solved, especially if we all work together.