CTC #57 - Moltex unlocks waste-to-fuel milestone

Hey there,

Welcome to another issue of Climate Tech Canada! I hope you survived the time change unscathed. Personally, it’s the one time of year that I get to pretend I’m a morning person.

I’ll be at the Carbon Removal Canada launch later today - here’s what I’ve been listening to / reading on carbon removal lately:

🎙️ How direct air capture can help decarbonize aviation ft. Carbon Engineering’s Anna Stukas

🇨🇦 Why Canada is poised to become a carbon removal superpower by Deep Sky’s Phil De Luna

🎙️ Can we alter the chemistry of the ocean to save the climate? by MaRS Solve for X

This week in climate tech:

• Ottawa’s FigBytes acquired by environmental software heavyweight

• Moltex Energy de-risks nuclear recycling tech

• Canada gets an “off track” performance review on climate goals

💰 Funding

💧 Fibracast (Hamilton, ON) closed $44.6M in funding for its advanced water filtration membranes. The raise was led by Cycle Capital and included Export Development Canada (EDC) and existing investors. Fibracast has developed innovative membranes for efficient water treatment and wastewater reuse.

🔌 Recharge Véhicule Électrique (Laval, QC) received more than $7M for its EV home charging solution from Fondaction, EDC and Investissement Québec. REV’s hardware and software energy management system enables at-home charging without having to increase electrical capacity for single- and multi-unit homes.

📊 FigBytes (Ottawa, ON) was acquired by Ireland’s Advanced Manufacturing Control Systems for an undisclosed amount. FigBytes developed a sustainability insights platform that captures operational and supplier data in a central tool. The acquisition builds on AMCS’ sustainability software offering.

⚡️ Clean Resource Innovation Network announced $16M for energy innovation projects through its Oil and Gas Technology Competition. Climate tech recipients include Acceleware (high efficiency inverters for industrial heating) and Arolytics (integrated emissions management platform).

🦾 Industry-led Next Generation Manufacturing Canada also announced funding for manufacturing AI projects, including projects from Ballard Power Systems (fuel cells), e-Zinc (battery storage), Ayrtron Energy (hydrogen), and others.

🏅 Milestones & growth

⚛️ Moltex Energy achieved a major milestone for its nuclear waste-to-fuel technology, completing tests with simulated fuels. The company is now working with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories to test with real spent CANDU reactor fuel. The tests are keys to demonstrating feasibility, safety and economic viability for the company’s innovative technology that uses waste from nuclear plants as fuel, tackling nuclear waste build up while unlocking clean energy.

🌋 Toronto-based geothermal provider Subterra Renewables is expanding into western Canada and the US with the acquisition of Alberta’s Earth Drilling & Nevada subsidiary Harris Exploration.

💨 CarbonCure will permanently store carbon captured via direct air capture in its low-carbon cement through a partnership with carbon removal startup Heirloom.

🔌 EV charging network Flo will use Telus’ technology to get real-time status and do remote diagnostics of their chargers to improve uptime and reliability.

♻️ Blue-Zone Technologies signed a deal with a major medical gas manufacturer to advance its sustainable waste anesthetic gas recycling technology.

🔋 Lightening Grid will build an advanced energy storage manufacturing and research facility in Shawinigan, QC to develop its high-performance battery storage.

🌞 Ontario’s Canadian Solar is building a new $800M photovoltaic cell factory in Indiana with an annual output of 5GW.

🚌 Lion Electric added 50 electric school buses to its $625M order book with a purchase from Highland Electric Fleets to service Alberta schools.

🔋 Mississauga battery technology company Electrovaya landed an $8M battery purchase from a US-based OEM.

🗞️ In the news

🚫 Rated “off track”: Canada is falling behind on its goal to reduce emissions by 2030 according to the federal environment commissioner. The gaps include not prioritizing parts of the plan with the highest impact or targeting sectors with the highest emissions, delays in launching important measures, and missing deadlines or emission reduction targets.

Another key issue: responsibility is scattered across departments and limited power for the Environment Minister to execute the plan.

🚗 The vibes are off for EVs: Car makers are warning that EV demand might not materialize due to high interest rates. Everyone from Tesla to GM to Mercedes-Benz is feeling the pain, rolling back production plans and adjusting profit targets. The dip may be a win for battery makers as they’re able to catch up on production and establishing supply chains outside China.

While most buyers aren’t aware of EV rebates that could mitigate sticker shock, prices will still need to drop by a third or more to be more widely accessible. Could smaller cars be making a comeback?

💸 Climate investment rebounds: Global venture & PE investment in climate tech rose to $16.6B in Q3 after a slow start to the year. A small number of large deals (eight above $250M according to Pitchbook) contributed to the bounceback.

The hottest sectors? Mining and materials, energy efficient buildings, direct air capture and batteries/EVs.

In other news 

• The Canada-Africa Development Bank approved $36.3M in loans for climate projects in Africa

• Quebec pledged $961M over 5 years to tackle climate change, mitigate the impact of forest fires, and support transit

• Hydro-Québec will invest up to $185B over the next 12 years to install ~9GW of new grid capacity to meet growing demand and decarbonize the grid

• Washington State plans to merge their carbon market with Quebec and California’s

• McLeod Lake Indian Band in B.C. will build a $7B clean energy hub on band territory with support from the province.

• Ontario is launching a $3B infrastructure bank to help build complex infrastructure projects, including clean energy. The province is also proposing legislation to support clean energy PPAs.

• Toyota is seeking financial help from the feds to switch to EV production at its assembly plants, similar to subsidies received by Volkswagen and Stellantis.

• Canadian auto parts maker Linamar is building a gigacasting plant in Ontario, . Gigacasting is used to produce lightweight, less-expensive chassis parts for EVs.

📣 What’s going on

🗓️ Ottawa Climate Tech Social: Hosted by Climate Tech Canada & friends, it’s an opportunity to connect with Ottawa folks working in climate or interested in making the switch. Ottawa, Nov 16th.

🗓️ Climate Careers & Community: Connect with the Montreal climate tech community, meet others who are passionate about climate solutions and explore new career paths. Montreal, Nov 16th.

💡 Cultivator Agtech Accelerator: A three month accelerator focused on pre-seed to Series A agtech startups in Canada with opportunity for investment from Conexus’ Emmertech fund. Apply by Nov 30.

💡 Circular Food Solution Challenge: Part of a larger project to develop circular food hubs across Nova Scotia, the program provides funding and support to pilot and testf circular food solutions in mainland Nova Scotia. Apply by Nov 13th

☕️ Here & there

A few of my favourite long-reads to help you sound smart this week

• MIT is training students to resolve conflicts over clean energy

• Indigenous Just Transition Guide offers a framework and inspiration for a fair clean energy future

• This year’s Earthshot Prize winners

• Why the Nature Conservancy is getting into the venture game

• Google Maps is making life easier for EV drivers in Canada with this new feature

• Unpacking a moment of reckoning for offshore wind in the US

• Hidden in plain sight: BlackRock says outdated views are holding back climate investments in metals and mining

📌 Jobs

Featured postings from Canadian companies building climate solutions

➡️ Hiring? List your posting here.

That’s all for this week! Enjoying the newsletter? Share this week’s issue with a friend to help support our work.

Justin