Canadian Universities looking to redesign electricity in Canada

Concordia University is beginning new research to try and bring affordable green energy to Canada.

Wednesday the University said the research would apply novel technologies to create innovative energy sources.

Previously Concordia was given a $123,160,035 grant for a project dubbed Electrifying Society: Towards Decarbonized Resilient Communities. That grant fund has since been shifted to the newly dubbed project Volt-age.

“The launch further solidifies that our various stakeholders have a shared vision and that we are ready to move forward with this transformative project,” said Karim Zaghib, a Concordia professor of chemical and materials engineering and CEO of Volt-age.

“It describes the fact that a new era of electrification is crucial if we are to create green and resilient communities that will thrive for years to come.”

Concordia University won’t be the only post-secondary institute working on the project. The University of Calgary, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Dalhousie University will also be involved.

“Our vision is anchored in our commitment to create impact in the real world. Between Concordia and our partner institutions, we have the research and expertise in place. Combine this with the ability of industry, government, the not-for-profit sector as well as local and Indigenous communities, and we are ready to make changes that are outcome- and scale-oriented,” said Dominique Bérubé, Concordia’s vice-president of research and graduate studies.

“It was important to leverage our partnerships and hit the ground running. We are already prepared to provided seed funding to several proposals that will support the preparation of larger‐scale initiatives to be funded in 2024.” 

The overall goal of the project is to help Canada achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.