CTC #20 - Deep dive into low-carbon aviation, a new hydrogen alliance, and more

Hey there,

Welcome to another issue of Climate Tech Canada! In addition to our usual round-up, this week we’re diving into the world of low-carbon aviation and the Canadian companies working on solutions.

Clean Flying

Later this month, the Federal government will release its updated, 10-year action plan for reducing aviation emissions in Canada. I wanted to use this opportunity to look at where we stand globally and in Canada, how we might get to net-zero in the aviation sector, and who’s working on solutions.

Globally, aviation accounts for roughly 2.5% of all CO2 emissions, amounting to just over 1B tonnes in 2018. And with other factors like nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and contrails (more about these later), the overall contribution to climate change is closer to 3.5-5%.

In Canada, emissions from Canadian airlines have increased by 75% since 2005, totalling over 22M tonnes in 2019, and despite airlines improving efficiency by almost 20%.  The Federal government’s current action plan, released in 2012, focused on fuel efficiency, sustainable fuels, and improvements to air traffic control, but includes no specific targets to reduce emissions.

What’s the impact?

Aviation contributes to climate change in three main ways:

• CO2 emissions from the combustion of fuel while flying, as well as lifecycle emissions from generation, transport and refinement

• Nitrous gas emissions, which produce ozone in the atmosphere. This ozone has a net warming effect by trapping energy in the atmosphere

• Contrails, the clouds produced when airplane exhaust emits water and soot particles. The water condenses on the soot, creating clouds and trapping heat

Each of these factors are also influenced by the design of the airplane (requiring more or less fuel), the efficiency and location of flight routes (creating more or less contrails depending on atmospheric conditions), and more.  

The flight plan

The International Air Transport Association has laid out a pathway to net-zero by 2050:

• 65% of reductions will come from the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels; 

• 13% from new technology, including efficient design, electric and hydrogen propulsion systems, and operational efficiencies, and 

• 19% from offsets and carbon capture 

We’ll focus on fuel and alternative propulsion, but there are also solutions in efficient aircraft design, optimizing flight routes, mitigating contrails, and more. Project Drawdown, for example, quantified the impact of fully adopting the most efficient airplane designs in use today at about 5.5Gt of CO2 reductions by 2050.

Sustainable Aviation Fuels

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) replace traditional jet fuel (kerosene), and are produced from feedstocks that don’t compete with other land use, like biomass (forestry/agriculture waste), used vegetable oils, or municipal waste. 

SAFs are still hydrocarbons and emit CO2 when combusted, but ultimately produce 80% less emissions across their lifecycle. This is because SAFs reuse the CO2 that was absorbed by the feedstock during its life (e.g. CO2 absorbed by trees). When the fuel is burned, that CO2 returns to the atmosphere. By comparison, traditional jet fuels add to the overall level of CO2 by extracting new carbon (fossil fuels) and emitting it into the atmosphere. 

So if the forestry waste absorbed 1T of CO2, and the use of that fuel resulted in 1.2T (additional emissions from refinement, transport, etc), the net emissions are 0.2T.

SAF standards have also included ESG goals, excluding feedstocks like palm oil.

Trade-offs

The biggest advantage of SAFs is that they can be dropped into existing systems. Existing aircraft require no changes to use the fuel, and SAFs can be transported and stored like traditional fuels. SAFs are also slightly more resistant to price shocks because they can be generated from a diverse set of sources. 

The main challenges for SAFs are commercialization and price. It’s capital intensive to build new facilities and the associated supply chains, and SAFs are currently between 2-7x more expensive than fossil fuels. Fuel price makes up about 30% of operating costs for airlines, so SAFs need to be able to compete here.

Who’s working on it

Montreal’s Enerkem, a producer of biofuels and chemicals from waste, is starting to produce SAF from biomass and won Natural Resource Canada’s “Sky’s The Limit” challenge earlier this year. Enerkem was able to produce the fuel with 93% lower emissions than traditional jet fuel by using biomass from forestry waste.

Squamish, B.C.’s Carbon Engineering takes a more direct path, using Direct Air Capture (DAC) to capture carbon from the air and combine it with green hydrogen to produce jet fuel. This solution essentially re-uses carbon already in the atmosphere to fuel aircraft. 

Incumbents also play a large role with SAF development given the capital required to commercialize them and the risk in adopting more expensive fuels. Consortiums like Canada’s SAF+ are bringing together airports, airlines, universities and other players to support their commercialization. 

Alternative Propulsion

Alternative propulsion typically falls into three categories: electric propulsion, hydrogen fuel, or hybrid fuel-electric systems. These options can either be added to existing aircraft as supplementary propulsion systems, existing aircraft can be fully retrofitted and converted over, or they can be designed into new aircraft from the get go. Each of them also has different considerations when it comes to weight, distance, and physical space requirements, making them more or less well suited to specific applications.

Trade-offs

The main benefit of these alternative propulsion options is that they are the closest to zero emissions (assuming the energy inputs for batteries or hydrogen production are zero emissions as well). 

Liquid hydrogen’s main advantage is an energy density that is 2.5x that of traditional jet fuel. It also produces ~90% less NOx and zero soot, potentially reducing contrails. Hydrogen has a lower density than kerosene, however, and would require up to 4x the space for fuel, and would require specialized tanks to maintain temperature and pressure. 

Electric propulsion systems have several benefits. They’re able to generate lots of propulsion quickly, making them great candidates for situations where runway space is limited and allowing for designs with smaller wings (and greater overall efficiency). They also have longer life spans than jet fuel engines, similar to what you would see comparing EVs vs ICE vehicles. The main drawback for electric is that the energy density of batteries is much lower than jet fuel, limiting the application to shorter flights or hybrid systems. However, half of all flights today are less than 800 km which is expected to be within the range of battery aircraft by 2025. 

Who’s working on it

Newfoundland’s Duxion Motors is developing high power density electric propulsion systems for both aviation and marine industries. Their eJet solution allows airlines and manufacturers to either hybridize their existing airplanes, or fully convert them to electric propulsion. Duxion also offers motors for an emerging class of vehicles - urban air mobility (UAM), or air taxis - with their eVOTL motors. 

Horizon Aircraft from Lindsay, ON is also developing vehicles in the UAM class with their X5 Cavorite eVOTL. These vehicles can serve the emerging air taxi market, but because of their vertical landing and take-off abilities they’re also a great fit for disaster relief and medical evacuation situations, where runway space is limited.

On the hydrogen front, Calgary-based aircraft operator Avmax has started converting their fleet to run on hydrogen fuel cells and electric power trains for regional flights. 

The Edmonton Airport is also trying to encourage demand for hydrogen with a range of investments in hydrogen facilities and partnerships to take advantage of Canada’s growing hydrogen industry. 

Fly less

Another solution to reduce aviation emissions is to simply fly less, particularly if it proves difficult to decarbonize by 2050. A study from the IEA found that ~14% of all flights could be shifted to high-speed rail, which tends to be about 12x more energy efficient per passenger than air. Countries like Germany and France have begun encouraging passengers to opt for rail with reduced fares or banning short haul flights entirely where rail is a viable alternative. 

While trains in Canada don’t enjoy the same energy efficiencies (Via Rail uses older, diesel trains and sees lower passenger occupancy) there’s a lot of opportunity: Via Rail had 5M passengers in 2019, while approximately 93M travelled by plane domestically in Canada.

Hyperloops are also emerging as potential solutions, particularly for high-volume corridors. TransPod is taking on this opportunity in Alberta, developing a hyperloop from Calgary to Edmonton. 

While aviation has a ton of challenges in front of it to decarbonize, it’s encouraging to see the progress being made already, the commitments from industry, and the number of companies working on innovative solutions.

Funding 

Direct-C (Edmonton, AB) secured $3.9M in Series A funding to scale its oil leak detection technology. The investment is led by Henkel Adhesive Technologies’ venture arm, and includes a long-term agreement for Henkel to procure and resell Direct-C’s technology. Direct-C’s leak detection technology is unique in that the sensors are coating-based, allowing them to be applied to wider range of surfaces that need monitoring. (Imagine painting on a sensor to a section of a pipeline)

FTEX (Montreal, QC) raised $2.24M in seed funding to develop its connected drive systems for light electrics vehicles like e-bikes and scooters. FTEX’s solution offers vehicle manufacturers a plug-and-play suite of electronics and software, reducing R&D time and costs. 

Milestones & Growth

Reusable packaging platform Friendlier announced a new partnership with Compass Group Canada to deploy their solution across Ontario and eventually nationwide. Compass Group is one of Canada’s largest food service providers with over 2,000 locations.

Edmonton’s Innovative Fuel Systems has partnered with several major trucking fleets to adopt IFS’ “Multi Fuel Technology Platform”, an after-market system that allows for over 50% of a truck’s fuel to be substituted for cleaner alternatives like hydrogen.

Hydrogen Optimized Inc expanded its partnership with German heavyweight ABB to commercialize its water electrolysis technology for green hydrogen plants. 

Carbon credit provider Carbon Streaming announced it has secured a new stream of carbon credits that will support energy efficiency projects in Malawi, Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa. The new stream is expected to reduce 50Mt of CO2 over 15 years. 

Carbon RX, a subsidiary of Delta CleanTech, has partnered with Nekaneet First Nation to offer “ESG carbon credits”, creating a new revenue stream for the First Nation to continue protecting their land.

News

• Canada and Germany officially signed an agreement to form the “Canada–Germany Hydrogen Alliance”, with the goal of addressing short term energy insecurity and long-term transition to clean energy. The agreement includes policy harmonization, support for supply chains, a Canada-Germany supply corridor and exports of “clean” Canadian hydrogen by 2025.

  • Some opposition may be forthcoming from Germany on the definition of “clean” hydrogen, however, as nuclear may play a role in powering Canadian hydrogen plants and is unpopular in Germany. 

• Canada plans to allow per kWh billing at DC fast charging stations before the end of 2022. Enabling per kWh billing will make pricing clearer for drivers (vs current per hour billing in place today). 

• Consultations opened for the Canada Green Buildings Strategy, and is accepting submissions from industry and the public. The strategy will focus on pathway to net-zero in the buildings sector.

• According to Natural Resources Canada (NRC), Canada will need around 200,000 public chargers by 2030 to support the government’s goal of 60% market share for ZEVs. Joanna Kyriazis from Clean Energy Canada breaks the full report down in this thread.

• NRC also announced funding for the Smart Grid Innovation Network, an effort to help electric utilities set and monitor decarbonization objectives. 

• Earlier this month the Nova Scotia government submitted a plan to the federal government to end its cap and trade system and replace it with a series of targets. The proposal was rejected, as the plan failed to put a price on carbon

Jobs

Tops jobs at some of Canada’s most interesting companies:

PMO Manager at Enerkem - Montreal, QC

Senior Communication Manager at Carbon Engineering - Vancouver, BC

Customer Support Manager at Blaise Transit - Remote

Senior Manager Energy & Sustainability at BrainBox AI - Montreal, QC

Software Product Manager at Damon Motors - Vancouver, BC

Product Marketing & Customer Experience Manager at Ivy Charging - Toronto, ON

As always, thanks for reading! And if you’re enjoying the newsletter, consider sharing with a friend.

Justin