EDMONTON, AB – The Government of Alberta is investing nearly $55 million towards 15 projects worth more than $156 million in public and private investment through Emissions Reduction Alberta. Supporting these innovative technologies will advance the province’s economy, boost competitiveness, and create jobs across established and emerging industries.
The announcement was made by Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, and Heather Stephens, Chief Operating Officer of Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), on February 13, 2025, at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology’s (SAIT) Cenovus Energy Centre. The projects are funded by the province’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Regulation.
The announcement includes $46 million for 12 projects worth more than $131 million in public and private investment through ERA’s annual Industrial Transformation Challenge. It also includes an additional $8.7 million for three projects worth nearly $25 million that were funded through ERA’s Continuous Intake Program.
“Alberta’s innovators are at the forefront of developing solutions to reduce emissions, generate jobs, and support the economy. Our investments through the TIER fund enable transformative change in the province’s industrial sectors and serve as a model for the world.”
Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas
“By investing in these technologies today, we are helping to maintain Alberta as a global leader in industrial innovation and paving the way for a more sustainable and competitive future across our industries.”
Heather Stephens, Chief Operating Officer, Emissions Reduction Alberta
If successful, these projects are estimated to deliver average annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions of over 119 thousand tonnes annually, cumulative reductions of over 394 thousand tonnes by 2030, and over 2.2 million cumulative tonnes by 2050. Projects are estimated to create close to 1,600 person-year jobs of employment and $237 million in GDP for the province by 2027.
Funding ranges from $500,000 to $10 million for projects that have the potential to dramatically lower costs, reduce emissions, create jobs, and improve the economic competitiveness of Alberta’s industrial and natural resource sectors: oil and gas, concrete and cement, pulp and paper, forestry, biotechnology, and municipal wastewater treatment. All projects will be piloted, demonstrated, or deployed in Alberta.
Projects will reduce costs, emissions, water use, and tailings production in oil sands mining; advance AI-enabled drone infrastructure in remote locations to support wildfire monitoring; increase the effectiveness of sealing oil and gas wells to reduce methane leakage; use machine learning to monitor emissions in combustion equipment, divert hard-to-recycle plastics from landfills, demonstrate a new solar thermal energy technology, and more.
Projects being funded through the Industrial Transformation Challenge include:
AIRmarket
ERA funding: $2,300,000 | Project Cost: $4,700,000
Location: Across Alberta
Enable Artificial Intelligence-equipped drones and required infrastructure for long-range operations that support wildfire monitoring, emergency response, and broader adoption of other potential practical use-cases across several sectors.
Alberta Newsprint Company
ERA funding: $10,000,000 | Project Cost: $25,600,000
Location: Whitecourt, AB
Alberta’s first and only paper mill is conducting best-in-class energy efficiency upgrades to the papermaking process and equipment to deliver cost savings and emissions reductions while producing new, higher-grade products and improving the mill’s competitiveness.
City of Calgary
ERA funding: $7,450,000 | Project Cost: $14,900,000
Location: Calgary, AB
Install a first-in-Alberta, second-in-Canada wastewater heat recovery facility to capture and utilize thermal energy at the Fish Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.
CSV Midstream Solutions Corp.
ERA funding: $1,700,000 | Project Cost: $9,500,000
Location: Grande Prairie, AB
Implement an industrial heat pump to capture waste heat and upgrade it for use onsite to increase efficiency; this is the first deployment of an industrial heat pump at a natural gas processing facility in Alberta.
DIW Buildings & Land Corporation
ERA funding: $8,400,000 | Project Cost: $22,800,000
Location: Blackfalds, AB
Advancing a first-in-Alberta approach to increase the province’s milk processing capacity in response to the growing demand in Western Canada by developing a concentrated milk product that can be transported with less energy and further processed into dairy products.
Flash Forest Inc.
ERA funding: $3,700,000 | Project Cost: $7,400,000
Location: Alberta (various)
Evolve and advance a proof of concept for drone-based tree planting technology by implementing AI-based site selection software, incorporating land-based techniques, and integrating additional tree species to maximize carbon sequestration.
Future Fields Cellular Agriculture and Research Ltd.
ERA funding: $4,100,000 | Project Cost: $22,700,000
Location: Edmonton, AB
Develop a technology to produce proteins for pharmaceuticals and other applications without the need of using costly, energy-intensive, and inefficient bioreactors.
Lafarge Canada
ERA funding: $4,000,000 | Project Cost: $8,000,000
Location: Exshaw, AB
A project to use calcined clay as a key material in cement products, displacing a portion of emissions-intensive clinker production and lowering the overall emission intensity of Portland cement while maintaining the strength of the final material.
LAVA Energy
ERA funding: $500,000 | Project Cost: $4,100,000
Location: Gordondale, AB
Deploy a pilot heat engine and an advanced turbine at a Birchcliff Energy site to convert low- and medium-grade waste heat to emissions-free electricity.
NanoWater Tech Inc
ERA funding: $1,000,000 | Project Cost: $2,700,000
Location: Lloydminster, AB
Pilot a made-in-Alberta customized nanofilter technology to improve the treatment of produced water in SAGD operations to reduce costs, energy use, and emissions.
TS-Nano Canada Inc.
ERA funding: $700,000 | Project Cost: $1,500,000
Location: Lloydminster, AB
Validate a new nano-modified polymer to increase the longevity and effectiveness of sealing oil and gas wells and reduce the need to service and re-seal, improving operational efficiency and reducing potential for methane leaks.
VL Energy
ERA funding: $2,240,000 | Project Cost: $4,700,000
Location: Alberta (various)
Install and demonstrate an advanced monitoring system that uses machine learning to monitor, predict, and reduce emissions in combustion equipment like combined heat and power systems.
“With the generous funding from the Government of Alberta and ERA, the project delivers an enablement platform for reducing emissions on an industrial scale and represents a true transformational project for Alberta, and beyond.”
Lindsay Mohr, Founder & CEO, AIRmarket Inc.
“With the support of ERA, Alberta Newsprint Company will adopt state-of-the-art technologies that significantly reduce its carbon footprint, demonstrating Alberta’s leadership in sustainable manufacturing.”
Ron Stern, President & CEO, Alberta Newsprint Company
“CSV Midstream Solutions appreciates the financial support from the Government of Alberta and ERA for our heat pump technology project for low-grade waste heat recovery. This innovative technology creates shared value through enhancing operational efficiency, reducing costs, and lowering overall carbon intensity.”
Daniel Clarke, CSV Midstream Solutions
“This funding support from the Government of Alberta through ERA enables the City of Calgary to employ innovative low-carbon technology to heat the new infrastructure for the Fish Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade project. By using heat pumps to recover thermal energy from wastewater effluent instead of using natural gas boilers as a heat source, the project significantly reduces the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
Michael Thompson, General Manager, Infrastructure Services, City of Calgary
“The support from ERA has been instrumental in driving the development and deployment of innovative technologies for the Dairy Innovation West facility. This funding not only accelerates our progress but also underscores Alberta’s commitment to advancing clean technology and sustainable solutions that have a lasting impact both locally and globally.”
Henry Holtmann, Chair, Dairy Innovation West
“We are grateful for the continued support from the Government of Alberta and Emissions Reduction Alberta as we advance our decarbonization journey. With their assistance, we’re piloting the use of novel clinker substitutes at our Exshaw plant to reduce CO2 emissions per tonne of cement produced. This initiative not only enhances the sustainability of our operations but also strengthens Alberta’s position as a leader in low-carbon technologies, driving positive environmental impact for the province.”
Brad Kohl, President and CEO, Lafarge Canada (West)
“Alberta is built on rich natural resources and a spirit of resilience, proud of its fertile farmland and forests, yet intimately aware of the challenges climate change brings to these industries. With the generous support of Emissions Reduction Alberta, Flash Forest is harnessing Alberta’s spirit of innovation to revolutionize the forestry sector. From cutting-edge machine learning tools for post-burn planting prescriptions to advancing seedpod technology and automating tree planting in critical areas, we’re going to use Alberta as a launch pad for technology that will be mirrored worldwide.”
Cameron Jones, COO, Flash Forest Inc.
“Generous funding from the Government of Alberta through Emissions Reduction Alberta accelerates the development and deployment of NanoWaterTech’s advanced nanotechnology-based solutions. This critical support enables us to scale our technology, reinforcing Alberta’s leadership in clean innovation and driving sustainable solutions for local and global communities.”
Ashish Rangari, Co-founder and CEO, NanoWaterTech Inc.
“With funding from the Government of Alberta and ERA, VL Energy, and PTAC are advancing the deployment of our Novel Predictive Emission Monitoring System in agriculture, enhancing large-scale facilities by improving energy efficiency, reducing costs, and unlocking opportunities for carbon revenue and ESG reporting. This will enable scaling to other verticals, creating new jobs, enhancing energy efficiency in Alberta, and ensuring the delivery of critical resources locally and globally.”
Ling Bai, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, VL Energy
Projects being funded through the Continuous Intake Program include:
ENMAX Power Corporation
ERA funding: $3,900,000 | Project Cost: $7,800,000
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Demonstrate a non-wire, digital grid management solution by connecting existing assets with a battery energy storage system and AI to optimize energy use.
Merlin Plastic Alberta Inc.
ERA funding: $2,000,000 | Project Cost: $10,950,000
Location: Calgary, AB
Develop a commercial-scale operation utilizing several proven technologies to divert hard-to-recycle plastic from landfills or incineration.
SolarSteam Inc.
ERA funding: $2,800,000 | Project Cost: $6,180,000
Location: Cynthia, AB
Demonstrate a new solar thermal energy technology and storage system that will clean industrial heat in a wide range of weather conditions.
“The funding we have received from the Government of Alberta through ERA has been instrumental to keep innovation in the province. It is an investment in the future of Alberta and shines a positive light on the province’s desire to promote a circular economy for plastics and reduce the packaging carbon footprint. We are honoured to be awarded this funding and to be part of the province’s forward-thinking environmental initiatives.”
Tony Moucachen, President, Merlin Plastics Alberta
“The support from the Government of Alberta and ERA is the catalyst for the first-of-kind deployment of SolarSteam’s proprietary technology with a commercial client in Alberta. This strategic partnership with Base Element Energy, Scovan, and Sunamp will demonstrate SolarSteam’s modular scalability, phased deployment approach, and Heat as a Service (HaaS) model, serving as a blueprint for upcoming projects across Canada and globally.”
Apostol Radev, CEO, SolarSteam
Projects were selected through ERA’s competitive review process. A team of experts in science, engineering, business development, commercialization, financing, and greenhouse gas quantification conducted an independent, rigorous, and transparent review overseen by a Fairness Monitor.
All ERA funding recipients are required to produce a final outcomes report that is shared publicly to help advance technologies towards commercialization. Funding recipients must also report on project outcomes, achievements, and lessons learned, including emissions reductions, job creation, and other environmental, economic, and social benefits.
For more information contact:
Kevin Duncan
Media Relations, Emissions Reduction Alberta
Cell: 403.431.2859
kduncan@eralberta.ca
About Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA):
For more than 15 years, ERA has invested revenues from the carbon price paid by large emitters to accelerate the development and adoption of innovative clean technology solutions. Since its establishment in 2009, ERA has committed over $954 million toward 296 projects valued at over $7.4 billion, which are helping to reduce GHGs, create competitive industries, and lead to new business opportunities in Alberta. These projects are estimated to deliver cumulative reductions of 36 million tonnes of CO₂e by 2030 and 102 million tonnes of CO₂e by 2050.