QUEBEC NETWORK ON SMART ENERGY AND THE ENERGY SQUAD

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS ON GREEN HYDROGEN AND BIOENERGY

The RQEI and the Energy Squad provide funding to support innovative energy collaboration projects

With the support of

May 22, 2024

The Quebec Network on Intelligent Energy (RQEI) and the Energy Squad are pleased to present the 3 projects funded as part of the first inter-institutional and inter-order calls for projects in green hydrogen and bioenergy.

On May 22, the RQEI and the Energy Squad launched two calls for projects aimed at structuring and supporting research in the green hydrogen and bioenergy sectors in Quebec. This initiative is supported by the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP).

Three amounts, totalling $818,000, were awarded to increase inter-institutional and inter-agency research capacity for the green hydrogen and bioenergy sectors.

The three projects selected are:

Bioenergy Research Project Category:

Potential to reduce GHG emissions from forest biomass supply chains and bioenergy conversion pathways

This project is led by: Évelyne Thiffault, Université Laval; William Belhadef, Innofibre; Jean-Philippe Jacques, Innofibre; Antonio Avalos Ramirez, CNETE; Béatriz Delgado Cano, CNETE; Ana Tavares, INRS-EMT; Dongling Ma, INRS-EMT; Daniel Guay, INRS-EMT and Bruna Rego de Vasconcelos, Université de Sherbrooke.

Green hydrogen research project category:

Development of a photocathode based on bio-based polymers and graphene nanoribbons for the production of green hydrogen

This project is led by: David Gendron, Kemitek and Jean-François Morin, Université Laval.

Development of electrochemical processes for the production of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier

This project is led by: Christian Désilets, CNETE; Jesse Greener, Université Laval and Daniel Guay, INRS-EMT.

The Director of the RQEI, Mr. Loïc Boulon, emphasizes: “The level of competition for this call for projects and the quality of the projects submitted were remarkable and I would like to thank all those who submitted projects. This is one of the first funding opportunities offered under this initiative, ending in 2027 and a second call for projects will be back in 2024.”

The Energy Squad’s collaboration was essential to the realization of this initiative, the Director of the Energy Squad, Ms. Jeanne Charbonneau, tells us: “This first joint inter-order project is already bearing fruit: the proposed projects are of high quality and in several projects, the number of partners was significant: the Universities-CCTT research continuum is being strengthened to the benefit of advances in the structuring and development of the green hydrogen and bioenergies”.

The RQEI’s mandate is to structure and lead a group of Quebec experts in energy transition and to pool resources in order to increase the creation, dissemination and transfer of knowledge to better meet energy challenges and contribute to Quebec’s reputation.

As for the Energy Squad, it brings together 21 college centres for technology transfer (CCTT) working in energy transition. It aims to catalyze the resources and multidisciplinary expertise of its members in order to offer integrated and innovative solutions to meet the complex needs of organizations and contribute to the energy transition. It thus makes it possible to offer companies and governments a common service offer in terms of energy transition, for projects whose scale is such that a CCTT alone could not meet them.

The MELCCFP has granted $7,250,000 to enable the RQEI to carry out, in collaboration with the Energy Squad, activities related to 6 development measures aimed at structuring and supporting research in the fields of green hydrogen and bioenergy.