9 Canadian Startups Tackling the Climate Crisis

Source: Marc Schaus, GREENBIZ

The Canadian-designed compression system prototype for nuclear fusion.

If Canada’s political climate concern sounds like a sham to you, be assured that it often does to many Canadians, also.

The irony was not lost on us when, in July, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared that we were officially in a “climate emergency” just one day before approving a massive new fossil fuel pipeline extension. Many of us also know that since July, our climate plans have been revealed to be among the worst in the G7, that none of our political parties in the most recent federal election had a plan good enough to meet our environmental targets, and that we’re still only projected to achieve about 63 percent of our 2030 climate goals.

What seems to be lesser-known, however, is that our country is also becoming internationally renowned for some of the incredible new Canadian startups making contributions to sustainable technology. Including, for example, remarkable new advancements in clean energy tech, low-emissions alternatives to carbon-heavy industries — and feats of carbon capture that one day actually may help to reverse climate change. And that’s no joke.

It may be encouraging for those only familiar with Trudeau’s double-edged politics to explore just a few of our country’s most innovative new climate tech companies gaining traction.

Terrestrial Energy (Oakville, Ontario)

Ever wonder what Canada’s previous Prime Minister Stephen Harper is doing these days? Wonder no more: News recently broke that Harper has been appointed to the advisory board for Terrestrial Energy, a nuclear energy company in Ontario working on advanced new reactors.

The promise of nuclear energy is that it can run reliably 24/7, unlike our energy from the sun or wind — and it offers us a comparatively lower environmental footprint if well managed. The problem is that while nuclear energy can remove some of our concern with renewable intermittency, the process of harnessing energy through nuclear reactions can add several risks for us to consider. To help offset these concerns, engineers have made considerable progress with two safer alternatives: nuclear fission involving molten salts and the energy of nuclear fusion. As such, the Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) design being developed by Terrestrial in Ontario is one promising new lead.

Terrestrial Energy

Terrestrial’s IMSR design swaps out the nuclear pellet-sized fuel components found in traditional reactors with liquid molten salt containing the nuclear fuel. Unlike traditional nuclear reactors, molten salt reactions take place closer to atmospheric pressure levels to reduce the risk of an explosive release of dangerous gases (molten salts also absorb much more heat than traditional liquid coolants, reducing risk further). Reduced risk means reduced cost.