Winners of the initial stage of the first-ever ARCTIC Challenge will develop their solutions for capturing heat lost during oil sands production
Vancouver, CANADA – August 22, 2016 -- Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre and Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) announced the winners of the initial stage of the “COSIA-ARCTIC Waste Heat Challenge” to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The challenge aims to reduce GHGs and increase energy efficiency by identifying cleantech solutions for capturing heat lost during oil sands production.
AMSEnergy Corp and Heat Matrix Group BV were selected from a pool of global innovators that submitted solutions to the COSIA-ARCTIC Waste Heat Challenge. They will receive funding to develop their solutions over the next six months, as well as in-kind contributions such as lab space, marketing support, equipment and materials, and mentoring. Following this stage of the challenge, one company will be selected to receive additional funding and invited to field test their technology in western Canada. The winner will be announced in early 2017.
The COSIA-ARCTIC Waste Heat Challenge is the first in a series of challenges sponsored bythe Advanced Resource Clean Technology Innovation Centre (ARCTIC), Foresight’s flagship program. ARCTIC accelerates clean technology development by bringing together industry, entrepreneurs, and the public sector to find and fund solutions for resource sector challenges in western Canada.
“The clean technologies developed by these companies have the potential to deliver environmental and economic benefits,” said Neil Huff, Managing Director of Foresight. “Not only will they help Canadian oil sands producers reduce their environmental impact, but they will potentially create local manufacturing jobs, build capacity, and drive the need for locally sourced equipment and services.”
“This COSIA-ARCTIC Challenge accelerates the pace of developmvent to find and adopt technologies and systems that will help reduce GHG emissions in the oils sands, and in other sectors and industries” said Dan Wicklum, COSIA’s chief executive. “By incentivizing the world’s best minds, we are creating opportunities to develop transformative technologies that will address climate change and contribute to a cleaner energy future.”
ARCTIC has proven to be a successful model for sourcing innovative cleantech solutions to real challenges in the oil sands. In addition to the Waste Heat Challenge, COSIA and Foresight are collaborating on a second ARCTIC challenge that is focused on hot water production in oil sands mining facilities.
The ARCTIC program is funded with support from Western Economic Diversification (WD) and the BC Innovation Council (BCIC).
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About FORESIGHT CLEAN TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR CENTRE
Foresight is a BC-based not-for-profit that provides early-stage cleantech innovators with the resources, expertise, and partners they need to accelerate their growth and eventually commercialize their products. Foresight startups have gone on to create millions of dollars in investment and 70+ jobs in Canada. ARCTIC is Foresight’s flagship program and brings together industry, entrepreneurs, and the public sector to find and fund cleantech solutions for resource sector challenges in western Canada. Find out more at www.foresightcac.com and follow on Twitter @ForesightCAC.
About COSIA
COSIA (Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance) is an alliance of 13 oil sands producers, representing over 90 per cent of production from the Canadian oil sands. COSIA’s vision is to enable responsible and sustainable development of Canada’s oil sands as a global energy source while delivering accelerated improvement in environmental performance through collaborative action and innovation in areas of greenhouse gases, land, tailings and water. Since COSIA’s inception in 2012, member companies have shared more than 814 environmental technologies worth almost $1.3billion. Find out more at www.cosia.ca and follow on Twitter @COSIA_ca.
Contact Information:
FORESIGHT media contact:
Alex Carr Tel: 1.778.384.8711 alex.carr.bc@gmail.com
For more information on COSIA, contact:
Eileen Kahler Eileen.Kahler@cosia.ca
For more information on the ARCTIC program, contact:
Neil Huff nhuff@foresightcac.com