NRC: Public-Private Partnerships Work to Commercialize Green Energy Technologies in Canada
June 4, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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Canada's government announced a $13.6 million investment in the National Research Council (NRC)'s Vancouver-based fuel cell and hydrogen industry and officially opened the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Gateway - a technology demonstration and exhibit center.
Gary Lunn, Canada's minister of natural resources, reconfirmed Canada's support for the work NRC and its partners have been doing to catalyze science and technology-based partnerships in Vancouver's fuel cell and hydrogen technologies cluster.
The initiative is part of a larger $118 million investment in six NRC technology cluster initiatives:
- Fuel cell and hydrogen technologies in Vancouver.
- Nanotechnology in Edmonton.
- Plants for health and wellness in Saskatoon.
- Biomedical technologies in Winnipeg.
- Photonics in Ottawa.
- Aluminum transformation in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region.
"Our government supports private-public research collaborations that accelerate the commercialization of hydrogen-based energy and alternatives that will lead to cleaner, renewable fuels," said Lunn. "The time is right to develop solutions that respond to our environmental and energy-related challenges and create a competitive advantage for our country."
In addition to the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Gateway demonstration center, a world-class NRC research facility that works with all of Canada's major fuel cell developers and users has been created. Construction has also begun on the only publicly available hydrogen-rated environmental test chamber in North America.
Vancouver is generally recognized as an international leader in membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and in modeling and materials research on membranes and catalysts.
Experts said innovative firms have also made significant headway in commercializing hydrogen and fuel cell solutions.
For example, local firm MagPower successfully raised $22 million to commercialize its magnesium-based fuel cell based on a catalyst developed by NRC. Plug Power, a recent graduate from NRC's Industry Partnership Facility, is now considered a leader in the forklift market.
And several local companies have partnered to become leaders in the commercialization of fuel cell technologies in niche markets.
"This technology cluster initiative highlights how NRC is focused on collaborative research with public and private sector partners that is inching Canada ever closer to making the commercialization of environmentally friendly fuel cell and hydrogen technologies a real possibility," said Dr. Pierre Coulombe, NRC president. "The impacts this technology will have on our environment and economy are limitless."
Technology clusters are broadly based community partnerships between industry, academia and all levels of government, focused on building competitive advantage for Canada through research and innovation. These science and technology partnerships position communities to attract talent, investment and economic activity.
In addition to six Western and Central Canada technology cluster initiatives, NRC also spearheads initiatives in Regina (sustainable infrastructure), Fredericton/Moncton (information technology and e-Business), Halifax (life sciences), Charlottetown (nutrisciences and health) and St. John's (ocean technologies).
Source: Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).