Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is offering funding for various clean-tech development projects within Canada through its SD Tech Fund and SD Natural Gas Fund.

Applications are being accepted from August 26 to October 14, 2015. Leah Lawrence, president and chief executive officer of SDTC, says the goal is to get clean tech innovations closer to market.

“Clean tech represents that double bottom line, bringing together environmental goals and economic activity in a way that generates jobs and opportunity across Canada,” she says. “And what an opportunity it represents for Canada: recent reports peg the Canadian clean tech market at $12 billion.”

SDTC has outlined current technology priority areas for the SD Tech Fund and the SD Natural Gas Fund:

SD Tech Fund

Responsible natural resource development

• Unconventional oil and gas and metals and minerals exploration and development: World-leading sustainability methods and processes to improve the exploration, development and value-added processing of unconventional oil and gas, metals and minerals.

Remote and northern community utility systems

• Northern renewable energy: Adaptation and demonstration of clean and emerging renewable energy technologies and systems for remote Arctic communities.

Energy efficiency for industry and communities:

• Efficient freight and heavy-duty vehicle transportation: Technologies related to next generation freight and heavy-duty vehicles with reduced carbon footprints, including EV powertrain technologies, vehicle light-weighting, advanced trains, heavy-duty vehicles and aircraft, or technologies related to EV and CNG/LNG infrastructure that will enable broad adoption.
• Industrial efficiency and productivity: Technologies that encourage resource efficiency in industrial processes.

Next generation technologies with longer-term benefits for Canada:

• Combustion-free primary energy conversion technologies: Technologies that convert primary energy sources to carbon-free energy carriers, such as steam electricity or hydrogen without combustion and with negligible emissions or waste production.
• Sustainable agriculture and food security: Technologies that reduce the usage of water, increase yield and improve drought resistance of agricultural crops.Biodiversity protection and enhancement: Solutions that mitigate biodiversity loss resulting from industrial and human activity.

SD Natural Gas Fund:

• Residential (small-scale affordable CHP units, ultra-efficient water heaters, technologies that improve the efficiency of residential heating and/or cooling).
• Commercial (technologies that improve the efficiency of heating systems, measurement and data management to better control natural gas consumption, natural gas cooling systems).
• Industrial (higher-efficiency industrial heating equipment, CO2 capture systems, less energy-intensive hydrogen production).
• Power generation (higher efficiency power generation, emissions control technologies, natural gas storage solutions for remote locations).
• Transportation (more efficient and lower emission natural gas engines, alternative natural gas engines, lower-cost solutions).
• Renewable natural gas (technologies that improve cleanup economics, cost-effective small-scale anaerobic digesters).