Thank you, Chair and members of the committee, for the invitation to appear before you today.
My name is Jennifer Littlejohns. I am the director for the advanced clean energy program at the National Research Council of Canada. My educational and professional background is in the field of biological engineering and chemical engineering. Prior to my current role, I spent a combined 12 years as a researcher in the private sector and in federal laboratories, where I worked in the area of biofuels production from waste.
The National Research Council of Canada is Canada's largest federal research and development organization. Uniquely placed in the Canadian R and D ecosystem, the NRC is able to leverage relationships and build partnerships between academia, industry and the public sector. The work includes working with other departments—for example, those participating in today's panel. Through these partnerships, the NRC takes research impacts from the lab and brings them to the marketplace. Each year our scientists, engineers and business experts work very closely with thousands of Canadian firms and help them bring new technologies to market. In that vein, the NRC partners with many academic institutions, industry, and government organizations on a range of projects within the biofuels as well as the hydrogen space.
The NRC has been working in the area of bioenergy and clean fuels for over three decades and has provided R and D solutions to many industrial partners. Specifically, over the last eight years the NRC has worked with more than 30 industrial partners through the bioenergy program. These activities range from helping with the development of new technologies for pre-commercial advanced biofuels to also optimizing commercial processes.
Today I'll speak about two NRC programs focused on clean fuels production: the advanced clean energy program and the materials for clean fuels challenge program.
The advanced clean energy program examines greenhouse gas emissions reduction through emerging clean energy technologies. This program is supported in part through Natural Resource Canada's office of energy research and development. Through this program, we're researching areas that include the production of biogas, renewable natural gas, bio-crude and synthesis gas. The program has a focus on using problematic waste feedstocks for clean fuels production, including industrial waste water, food waste and municipal solid waste. Their use for clean fuels production can aim to both reduce waste while producing low-carbon fuels.
Besides waste, many feedstocks need to be exploited for clean fuels. Therefore, we are working with other federal labs, such as Natural Resources Canada's CanmetENERGY, which is working on complementary technologies for clean fuels production from forestry materials.
Hydrogen production technologies are also of interest under this program. The NRC is exploring longer-term opportunities in Canada through zero-emitting processes. An example is electrochemical processes. We also continue to work with counterparts at NRCan who are exploring options such as converting natural gas to hydrogen. Finally, we have activities on life-cycle analysis to identify the greenhouse gas intensity of various clean fuels. We work with other federal partners on that.
The materials for clean fuels challenge program is supporting technologies to convert waste carbon dioxide into net-zero fuels and the production of clean hydrogen using renewable electricity. The focus of the program is on early, high-impact, high-reward research in such materials as catalysts and membranes. There are currently 16 collaborative projects across four countries with partners from academia and promising Canadian start-ups.
Looking ahead, I welcome the opportunity to work with colleagues from NRCan as they establish and launch the clean fuels fund announced in budget 2021. I'd also like to state that the International Energy Agency has identified that biofuels and hydrogen are very key parts of the global effort, along with such other technologies as electrification, to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
With that, I'd be happy to any of your questions.