Evidence of meeting #28 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was technology.
A recording is available from Parliament.
General Manager, Nergica
Yes, in silos. I think the energy transition requires that we work in a much more cross-disciplinary manner.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
In your experience, what stage of clean technology development is the most difficult in Canada? Is it development, deployment, market saturation? Where does the process stall?
General Manager, Nergica
There are challenges in terms of demonstration, particularly in relation to the nine technology readiness levels, the highest level being commercialization. I'd say the challenges really come up as commercialization nears, when the time comes to carry out demonstrations, figure out regulatory issues and address access to the grid. That's when testing sites are needed, as well as programs for demonstrating technologies and their effectiveness.
Liberal
NDP
Laurel Collins NDP Victoria, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'll follow up with Randy Wright again.
I'll give you an opportunity, if you want, to say more about that “five years”. You had only a moment to answer the last question.
President, Harbour Air Ltd.
The discussions with this committee and the government on funding have been interesting. The Prime Minister announced, on climate action, quite a large budget and an initiative, but when we talk to all the folks, they say that's for vehicles and whatnot. We don't have anything for aviation. I want to put that point on resources back in. I said, “That's crazy, because it's a Canadian airplane and a Canadian company, and it's right in the wheelhouse of the agenda”, and they said, “You're right, but we'll have to get back to you.” I needed to make that point.
NDP
Laurel Collins NDP Victoria, BC
I want to thank you for making that point. Air travel accounts for about 22 megatonnes of CO2, which is the equivalent of five million cars, annually. If the government had a more transparent and ambitious plan to reduce carbon emissions from the aviation industry, how would that impact the work of your company and of other people in the aviation industry who are doing electrification?
President, Harbour Air Ltd.
Well, it would be tremendous if we had boots on the ground helping us on the certification and funding. To the question before, about how many years I figure, well, that would escalate it. So back to resources on what the goal of the world is right now, yes, that would be important.
You may have seen that there was a flight of Alice today. You may have seen the headlines. They did their inaugural flight, but they're still saying they're four years away from launch, and that's a nine-seat aircraft—back to the weight we were referring to and the question I got before. That's why I say it's in that wheelhouse. If we can get everybody onside to understand what the goal is and what we're trying to do, and get the resources, we can escalate this. No disrespect to Transport—they have a team and I'm working with them—but it's been a minefield, I have to tell you, to try to navigate through this.
Liberal
September 27th, 2022 / 4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Thank you, Chair.
Mr. Morgan, I believe we can significantly reduce emissions through technology instead of taxes, and I think the testimony we've heard throughout the study confirms that, but we also heard about how difficult it can be to commercialize technology in Canada. How do you believe we can commercialize more clean technology in this country?
Chief Executive Officer, Hoverlink Ontario Inc.
It's common throughout governments, not just the federal government. It's provincial. It's about managing those expectations.
I think the bigger question—and it's happened many times throughout the centuries—is that necessity is a catalyst for change and innovation. That's where we're at. Even with the COVID epidemic, we were very fortunate to have drug companies that made vaccines so quickly.
Randy Wright is right on: It's four or five years. I don't see our craft.... The engines are not a problem; it's the battery technology, the weight ratio, all of it. It's more critical for airplanes. For us, it's a little different; it's the burn that we use.
It's about having clear, direct communication.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
What will happen to the intellectual property that we've developed if we're unable to commercialize in Canada? Is it something that you worry about?
Chief Executive Officer, Hoverlink Ontario Inc.
Sure. I'm a proud Canadian. We're the proudest people when we drop a puck, but boy, we sure get humble and quiet when other things happen. World War II was an example of what happens when we roll up our sleeves. We need to be stronger.
At the end of the day, if Randy doesn't get the help, if I don't get the help, if Frédéric doesn't get the help, we have some friends south of the border who would say, “Hey, great.” It's the same with investors as well. Investors are more savvy, less risk-oriented. They say, “Come on, this is the future. We need to move on with it.”
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Perfect.
Mr. Wright, you said that we are behind compared to the Americans. Can you expand on that?
President, Harbour Air Ltd.
Well, they have this aircraft that flew today, and we're not even close to that. They have that through the permitting stage, the FAA, as I said. Transport admitted to me that they're a year and a half to two years in front of us, and they continue to be. They have a big agenda that they're trying to.... They have teams to help with this.
Again, it's new technology, but they've put the resources in there.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Would you say they have a more friendly business environment?
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
How so? Especially when it comes to commercialization, that seems to drop off the face of the earth when it hits in Canada, as compared to the States.
President, Harbour Air Ltd.
I was born and raised in Victoria—a true Canadian, as Chris said. We're so nice as Canadians, but the Americans have always been way more aggressive. They continue to be, and they're outpacing us. However, if we can get the resources and the people behind it, I think we can escalate it quite a bit.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Okay.
Mr. Côté, we seem to invest a lot of money in the research and development of clean tech. Do you think it would be in Canada's best interests to obtain data and information on the number of projects that have reached commercialization after receiving government funding?
General Manager, Nergica
In my opinion, the more data that are available, the more improvement is possible. As I said earlier, the last stages are the most difficult, those related to commercialization of the technology.
Work is needed both to push the technology toward the market by helping it achieve maturity and to draw it into the market by supporting entrepreneurs through incentives and creating more advantageous market conditions.
The energy transition is also related to infrastructure and consumer habits. There's inertia to overcome to promote adoption. We need to continue to focus our efforts on that continuum to push technology to the market and draw it into that market.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Thank you.
Mr. Wright, if the world adopted on a commercial scale the technology that you are developing, how many emissions do you think could be eliminated?
