QUEST and Pollution Probe Launch their second Innovation Sandboxes project report
Source: · QUEST · | November 19, 2020
Today, QUEST and Pollution Probe are releasing their second Innovation Sandboxes report: Getting to Deployment: Bridging the Gaps in Energy Innovations in Canada.
The report identifies Innovation Sandboxes as a key policy tool to scale up innovation in Canada’s energy sector and complement current innovation programs focused on technological R&D and demonstration projects. Innovation Sandboxes are not new in Canada. Using them in the energy sector will help remove non-technological barriers innovators face, accelerate the deployment of energy innovations needed for Canada to meet its net-zero targets, reduce emissions, and create long-term economic growth that can help the country recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
“Given their multiple benefits, Innovation Sandboxes have a role to play in accelerating the deployment of innovation in Canada’s energy sector while complementing current innovation programs,” said Tonja Leach, QUEST’s Executive Director. “The great news is that Canada is no stranger to Innovation Sandboxes. Innovation Sandboxes and programs that have sandbox-like elements have already been developed in a number of sectors within Canada, including energy, and at the federal, provincial, territorial, and local government levels. But, it is time to use Innovation Sandboxes more broadly and intentionally in the energy sector.”
Energy innovation has played a large part in Canada’s prosperity, and there are a multitude of energy innovation programs in place across Canada. Unfortunately, Canada’s energy innovation policies have neglected to focus on non-technological barriers and the deployment of low-carbon innovations.
“If we are to meet our climate change targets, Canada will need to look at innovation deployment and address the barriers to scaling up of low-carbon innovation. This requires us to consider a new set of policy tools that go beyond the usual public funding of research, development and demonstration of emerging technologies. This also requires us to move beyond a narrow technological lens and embrace social, cultural, and economic aspects of innovation,” said Richard Carlson, Pollution Probe’s Director of Energy Policy and Energy Exchange.
But only well-designed Innovation Sandboxes, tailored to meet the needs of the specific Canadian jurisdiction in which they are deployed, can be successful in accelerating the deployment of innovation, as discussed in the project’s earlier report, Enter the Sandbox: Developing Innovation Sandboxes for the Energy Sector.