CTC #80 - Honda brings $15B EV supply chain to Ontario

Hey there,

Welcome to this week’s issue of Climate Tech Canada, sharing the latest in climate news and innovation each week.

In case you missed it, our conversation with Mammoth Climate co-founder Jack Bruner is out now. We talk net-zero plans, creating climate culture at work, and the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. It’s a great listen for sustainability teams and anyone interested in climate action in the workplace.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week in climate tech:

• Growcer lands $3M from strategic investors

• Honda unveils EV supply chain plans in Ontario

• G7 countries phase out coal

Let’s go!

🔋 Honda comes to Ontario

What happened: Honda announced it will build four EV and battery factories in Ontario. The massive investment includes an EV and battery plant, plus two joint ventures to produce cathode active materials and separators for EV batteries. The projects are expected to cost $15B in total.

Both Ontario and Quebec were in the mix for Honda, but Ontario was able to offer “hundreds of millions” more in incentives than Quebec. All told, Honda could receive $5 billion in government incentives and subsidies. Half will come from the new federal EV Supply Chain tax credit, while Ontario will foot the rest.

Zooming out: Honda’s Ontario plants will complement their existing EV Hub in Ohio, which includes two car factories, an engine plant, and a joint battery venture with LG.

Canada’s been on an EV roll: investments since 2020 now total more than $46B, with almost all of it in Ontario or Quebec.  

What’s next: Honda plans to kick off EV production in 2028. The plants will start producing lithium ion batteries, but the company hopes to eventually switch to solid state batteries.

🌱 Growcer closes $3M for vertical farms

What happened: Growcer (Ottawa, ON) closed a $3M Series A round to expand its vertical farming business. The round included Modern Niagara, a mechanical services provider for buildings, former Farm Boy co-CEO Jeff York, and Jeff Westeinde. 

Growcer’s vertical farms allow customers to grow food year-round with a reduced environmental footprint. With units located close to consumers, they can cut transportation emissions and improve food security, producing up to 8,000 lbs of produce per year.

Why it matters: Vertical farms can be a promising climate solution. The controlled systems avoid emissions from farm equipment, use water more efficiently, and can increase crop yields. They also offer protection from climate threats like drought and changing weather.

Vertical farms can also be a challenging and capital intensive industry, particularly at a large scale. Several venture backed startups have folded over the past year. Growcer has opted to take on less outside capital than some competitors while on hyper-local growing.

What’s next: Growcer plans to use the fresh capital to expand in Canada and into the U.S. The company also plans to grow its product offering beyond leafy greens and modular structures.

💰 More climate capital

• Equispheres (Ottawa, ON) raised $20M in Series B financing for its metal additive manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) tech. Their technology aims to enable metal 3D printing at mass scale while improving energy efficiency and reusability.

• Bioform Technologies (Vancouver, BC) raised $6.8M in seed funding from the VC arm of Suzano, the world’s largest pulp producer. Bioform is developing wood pulp-based hydrogels that can replace oil-based plastics.

• Nine companies received up to $150K through the latest Canadian Plastics Innovation Challenge. Circulr is building a modular reverse vending machine for the collection of reusable goods and Metaspectral is developing a AI-powered hyperspectral sorting system for flexible packaging.

📈 Milestones & Product

💨 Deep Sky is teaming up with Iceland’s Carbfix to evaluate the potential for geological storage of CO2 across Quebec.

🏗️ Nexii, a sustainable building company previously valued at $2B, is selling off a subsidiary as part of corporate restructuring.

♻️ Reusable packaging platform Friendlier launched a new, fully circular reusable coffee cup to its product line 1.5 billion cups are discarded every year in Canada.

🚗 Kite Mobility will provide its “mobility-as-an-amenity” service at a new retirement community in Ontario, offering residents access to shared EVs. 

♻️ EcoTank is partnering with Canadian Tire to scale its refillable windshield-washer fluid offering, displacing 800,000 kg of single-use plastic jugs.

💨 MaRS Discovery District will pre-purchase carbon removal credits from five Canadian companies across ocean removal, direct air capture, and mineralization.

🌋 DEEP Earth Energy Production is partnering with produce grower and distributor Oppy to build a geothermal-powered greenhouse.

💨 Carbon Alpha, a carbon project developer, will capture and store CO2 from Meadow Lake Tribal Council’s biomass energy plant, generating carbon credits.

🏅 Ayrton Energy, Carbon Upcycling, CO2 Brew are finalists in Foresight Canada’s Alberta Cleantech Awards

🗞️ In the news

🪨 The end of coal?: G7 countries reached an agreement to shut down all coal plants by 2035. Most G7 nations already have plans in place to phase out coal, but it’s still in high demand globally, hitting 8.3 billion tonnes in 2022. Japan, which gets 32% of it’s energy from coal, has previously blocked international commitments at the G7 level. A breakthrough agreement could help spur more coal phase outs.

♻️ Tracking plastics: Canada launched a registry to track how much plastic is hitting the market. It’s part of a wider effort from the feds to curb plastic waste, including a ban on single-use plastics. The registry was announced at the beginning of international talks on a plastic treaty in Ottawa.

🏢 Breaking up with gas: Municipalities across Quebec are closing off fossil fuel heating. The Metropolitan Community of Montreal is the latest, banning fossil fuel-based space and water heating in the 82 municipalities it represents. Natural gas is widely used in Canada for heating systems, making up 13% of all GHG emissions. Expect the natural gas industry to push back. They’ve fought similar changes across the country.

🌎 Big picture

U.S. regulators approved new rules to streamline the environmental reviews for advanced nuclear reactors.

CATL took a huge leap forward with their new lithium iron phosphate batteries, capable of adding 600 km in just 10 minutes.

A new study found a direct link between plastic production and pollution, with every 1% increase in production leading to a 1% increase in pollution.

Are EVs as sustainable as we think? With battery recycling, there’s no question. 

Upgrading existing power lines with advanced conductors could double transmission capacity.

📣 What’s going on

🗓️ EV & Charging Expo 2024. Showcasing the latest in EV charging infrastructure, commercial EVs and fleet suppliers. May 1-2nd, Toronto.

🗓️ AGRI Tech Venture Forum: The AGRI Tech Venture Forum brings together global agtech leaders, investors, innovators and corporates to explore the latest in agtech. May 1-2nd, Toronto.

🗓️ Net-Zero Quebec—CanREA Summit. The Canadian Renewable Energy Association brings together Quebec’s renewable energy and energy storage sector. May 14th, Montreal.

💡 Sustainable Agtech for Profitability. Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario is seeking agtech solutions that enable soil health, biodiversity, profitability, and overall sustainability management for crop farmers. Apply by May 17th.

📌 Jobs

Check out the job board for newly posted roles from Canadian climate tech companies working on low-carbon housing, climate risk, carbon removal and more!

➡️ Hiring? List your posting here.

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Justin

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