Axing the tax

TECH

General Fusion hits plasma breakthrough

What happened: General Fusion successfully created magnetized plasma in its LM26 demonstration machine, a critical milestone on the way to developing commercial fusion power. 

The company achieved this milestone just 16 months after building LM26, and says they can create plasma daily. 

The tech: Fusion energy is created by fusing atoms together (rather than splitting them apart as in nuclear fission), the same process that creates energy in the sun. 

The pathway for fusion development generally includes solving the following problems: creating plasma fuel → containment → compression → energy breakeven (where energy released is equal to the heating inputs) → sustaining a reaction → commercial scale.

General Fusion has raised $440 million for its mechanical compression approach (called Magnetized Target Fusion) that it says can produce fusion in pulses at a lower cost. Other approaches use lasers electric fields to confine the plasma.

Why it matters: Fusion is the ultimate clean energy source for many people. It produces 4 million times the amount of energy by mass vs chemical reactions and four times that of nuclear fission. It also produces no greenhouse gases, no long-lived radioactive waste, and can’t melt down. 

The field is advancing quickly: France’s CEA set a record last month, sustaining plasma containment for more than 22 minutes, and China’s EAST surpassed 17 minutes a few weeks before that.

What’s next: With plasma creation locked in, General Fusion is now turning its focus to nailing plasma compression. The company is aiming to commercialize fusion within the next decade.

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CLIMATE CAPITAL

🤖 Augmenta (Toronto, ON) closed $14.4 million for its building design automation software. Prelude Ventures led with support from Montage Ventures. Augmenta is using AI to help engineers and contractors generate sustainable, code-compliant building designs.

🌲 Remsoft (Fredericton, NB) acquired Ottawa-based Lim Geomatics, a geospatial platform for the forestry industry. Remsoft plans to integrate the platform into its own forestry intelligence platform.

🏭 Heidelberg Materials, a global building materials company, secured $49 million from the federal government to build a carbon capture, utilization and storage project at its cement manufacturing facility in Edmonton. Canada committed $275 million to the project, which aims to remove one million tonnes of CO2 per year.

MILESTONES & PRODUCT

🌱 Ottawa-based vertical farming startup Growcer launched the Growcer Fund, which allows operators to reduce upfront costs by up to 75%.

⚛️ Moltex Clean Energy successfully demonstrated their nuclear waste recycling tech, converting a portion of nuclear waste into stable salts that can be used to create energy.

♻️ Mining giant Glencore is in talks to acquire battery-recycling startup Li-Cycle. Glencore has already invested US$327M in the company, whose valuation has dropped 99% from a high of $1.7 billion.

🔌 SWTCH Energy launched a new smart EV charging system for multi-unit buildings that cuts installation costs and makes EV charging viable in more buildings.

🔋 E3 Lithium and Pure Lithium successfully produced batteries using lithium from E3’s brine extraction technology, validating its battery-grade quality.

🚌 Electric bus-maker NFI’s stock jumped after reporting a profit and outlining a number of measures to mitigate the impact of U.S. tariffs like “Buy America” certification and relocating inventory.

⛽️ Biomethanol and green hydrogen producer Recyclage Carbone Varennes filed for creditor protection after failing to secure capital for its $1.5B methanol plant. 

NEWS

Carbon tax Carney

What happened: Newly minted PM Mark Carney killed Canada's consumer carbon pricing system, saying it’s become “too divisive”. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's "axe the tax" campaign fueled this shift amid high inflation and affordability concerns.

B.C. Premier David Eby plans to follow suit, eliminating BC’s provincial carbon tax.

Background: Introduced by the Trudeau government in 2019, consumer carbon pricing is a market-based approach to reducing emissions that puts a price on pollution for fossil fuels like gas or coal. It encourages individuals to adopt lower-carbon options while providing rebates to offset costs. 

Why it matters: Removing the consumer carbon tax kills an effective tool for cutting carbon pollution responsible for between 8-14% of Canada’s emissions progress.

While addressing short-term affordability, it makes longer-term investments in low-carbon products like heat pumps or EVs harder to justify, challenging business models built around a price on carbon. 

The move also ends carbon rebates that benefited most households, though Carney has hinted that similar incentives could return, preferring carrots over sticks when it comes to climate policy

All eyes on industry: The industrial carbon pricing system could be the next battleground, with Poilievre vowing to eliminate it if elected. It’s a successful system, delivering the bulk of Canada’s emissions progress and accepted by industry.

Eliminating it is unlikely to improve affordability or attract new investment, but would put billions worth of investments at risk, including $5 billion in existing carbon credits.

The bottom line: Losing the consumer carbon price is a setback, but could give climate policy some more political breathing room, particularly with an election on the horizon.

IN THE NEWS

🔋 Buyer needed for Northvolt’s Quebec plant. The federal and Quebec governments want a buyer to take over Northvolt’s $7-billion EV battery factory in Quebec after the company filed for bankruptcy. Quebec has invested over $270 million in Northvolt. Pension fund CDPQ also invested $200 million. Northvolt’s North American subsidiary is still solvent, and could take over the plant. [CBC]

🦋 Canada and Quebec sign biodiversity pact. The two governments will invest up to $100 million by 2027 for nature protection and biodiversity conservation as part of their respective nature strategies. The investment supports the Global Biodiversity Framework that calls on governments to protect and restore nature. [Canada.ca]

🔌 Tesla blocked from BC rebates. B.C. Hydro has excluded Tesla products from its EV charging rebate program over Elon Musk’s political activity in the U.S. BC Premier David Eby said taxpayers wouldn’t want their money going to Musk’s company. Tesla also made the news for a surge in suspicious sales right as the federal government paused its EV rebate program, suggesting potential abuse of the rebates. [CBC]

⚡️ BC wins case to limit cryptomining power use. The British Columbia Court of Appeal has upheld the government's decision to limit electricity supply to a cryptocurrency mining firm to protect the province's power resources and maintain electricity prices for consumers. [National Observer]

🌬️ Nova Scotia lines up offshore wind. The province identified five areas for offshore wind development, aiming to establish up to 5 gigawatts of energy by 2030. Nova Scotia is ramping up efforts to develop its offshore wind industry, setting up a new regulatory framework over the past year. [Financial Post]

BIG PICTURE

Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy closes its D.C. policy and advocacy office

How Montana Renewables got its DOE loan unfrozen with Republican support

Geothermal startup Fervo is eyeing an IPO

The U.S. EPA plans to kill foundational climate findings

The EU is overhauling its climate rules

British Airways launched a £168m VC fund to decarbonize flying

Google, Meta among large energy users calling to triple nuclear energy by 2050

Inaction on climate could cost 1/3rd of global GDP this century

COMMUNITY

🎯 Call for Data: Carbon Removal Industry Dashboard: Carbon Removal Canada is is asking industry suppliers to submit data for an interactive dashboard to map out Canada’s growing carbon removal industry. Submit data.

🗓️ Carbon Credibility: Measuring Real Climate Impacts: Join me in Ottawa for a conversation with climate scientist Alex MacIsaac unpack how we measure the impact of human activities on the climate. March 27th, Ottawa.

🗓️ Web Summit’s Climate Innovation Zone: Web Summit is the world’s premier tech conference, coming to Vancouver for the first time in May. Reach out to B.C. CICE about getting involved in the Zone during Web Summit in Vancouver!

➡️ Discover more climate events.

💻️ Blaise Transit is hiring for Business Development roles to create sustainable, enjoyable, and accessible transportation for all.

➡️ Find more open roles or submit a job posting