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Business

Business Spotlight – Calgary Start-Up Innovating Carbon Capture

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7 minute read

Let me begin by saying that the ecosystem of tech and green entrepreneurs in Alberta never ceases to amaze me. Respect to our educational institutions and accelerator programs that are supporting start-up ventures grow and get to a stage of market validation. The difficulty for some may be immediate revenue, but the potential for their technology and benefit to our planet are the key differentiators as we move towards a new green economy here in Alberta. The conversation may stay polarized on whether keeping all our eggs in the oil and gas basket is our best foot forward, but there’s promise in this province to be the driving force behind a sustainable energy future. In 2016, renewable energy sources made up only 12.3% of the total energy generated in Alberta, four years on we now find ourselves advancing towards our 2030 goal with vast improvements from highly skilled individuals, the question is, who is doing all the hard work?

            (2020 Emerging Leaders – Roger Mah receives accreditation from Clean50 )

We spoke with Roger Mah, a Calgary entrepreneur who co-founded his company ZoraMat Solutions Inc. His company specializes in carbon capture, bio gas purification and natural gas efficiency improvements. While studying for his bachelor’s degree in Applied Chemistry from the University of Calgary, he spent over a year working in research and development as part of his degree in the Alberta Oil Sands. He mentions:

“It gave me perspective on the economic engine that drives this province. That was part of what pushed me towards my Ph.D at the University of Calgary.”

            (From Left – CSO George Shimizu, CEO Roger Mah and CTO Jared Taylor)

After finishing his Ph.D in Chemistry, he received the opportunity to do a non-traditional postdoctoral fellowship, allowing Roger to work for the CMC Research Institute. Nearing the end of his term with the CMC Research Institute, an opportunity emerged for Roger to take this technology from his Ph.D supervisors group out of the lab and implement it to a possible commercial application. With backing from GreenSTEM, Roger and his co-founders, George Shimizu (CSO) and Jared Taylor (CTO), armed with support, experience and education, founded ZoraMat Solutions Inc in January of 2019.

“It has allowed me to really put 100% of my effort and time into this company and give it real a shot…”

GreenSTEM is an entrepreneurial pilot program for science, technology, engineering, math masters and Ph.D. graduates. The 2-year program enables entrepreneurship and provides a two-year commercialization runway for “deep technology” companies involved in science based innovation. You can learn more about their support for entrepreneurs here.

Repurposing Carbon

Carbon dioxide is a commodity with some value. It is used, both directly and as a feedstock, by a range of industries and has been for over a century. Most CO2 used by industries today is a byproduct of fossil fuel processes, often from natural gas or coal-fueled plants. Just like burning fossil fuels, it transfers CO2 from the geosphere to the atmosphere. If CO2 that is pulled out of the air became more plentiful and cheaper, we could see the change by competing with earthbound CO2 . In theory, any industry that uses carbon from under the ground for fuel, beverages, directly in industrial processes, as a feedstock to create other products, could switch to air-captured CO2 if the appropriate chemical process is taken. Airborne CO2 emissions have a low concentration which can make capturing large quantities a challenge. ZoraMat’s solution is to capture CO2 as part of the industrial process, preventing CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

 

What is Zoralite?

Roger defines Zoralite as a ‘specialty chemical’, similar in look to flour. On a molecular level is where the real chemical innovation plays its part. Zoralite acts like a molecular ‘sponge’ to soak up CO2 from emissions in the presence of water, which works as a competitive advantage for their team. Zoralite can capture CO2 from wet industrial flue gas streams then release the CO2 by applying heat or vacuum. In the efforts to exemplify the processes using the ‘sponge’ analogy, Roger mentions:

          (Zoralite)

 

“Zoralite soaks up the carbon dioxide, similar to soaking up the grime from a pan in your kitchen sink. Then, what comes through is a clean dish or your treated gas. Then you can use a process to squeeze out that sponge. So for us, what we do is we heat it up or we apply a vacuum. And by squeezing the sponge, all of that dirty water comes up, or for us, a pure stream of CO2.”

 

 

A simplified analogy but an extensive process that has taken years to develop. This technology could play a major role in what we see as a collaborative effort moving into a new green economy while re evaluating our industrial energy efficiency. The team at ZoraMat is actively seeking partnerships to help scale this process for larger commercial use. If you would like to learn more about ZoraMat or Zoralite, check out their website here or to contact their team.

 

“A New Dawn Towards A Clear Blue Sky” – ZoraMat Solutions Inc.”

 

 

For more stories, visit Todayville Calgary

National

Furey a major contrast with Trudeau on affordability

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From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Author: Jay Goldberg 

If Canadians want to find an example of a Liberal politician who cares about affordability, they should look to St. John’s, not Ottawa.

Time and time again, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey has stood on the side of taxpayers.

The latest example is his government’s decision to extend its 8.05 cent per litre gas tax cut for another year.

The gas tax cut has been in place for 21 months and has saved the average two-car Newfoundland and Labrador family more than $800. Another 12 months of lower gas prices will see family savings soar to more than $1,000.

Furey first announced the temporary tax cut in June 2022 and has now extended it twice.

The Furey government has also spoken out strongly about the detrimental impact of the carbon tax on Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

In criticizing the Trudeau government’s carbon tax late last year, Furey noted “there is no subway” for his constituents to take as an alternative to the ever-increasing costs of driving a car to get to work or to bring kids to school.

That comment was a jibe at the infamous remarks federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made when encouraging Canadians who can’t afford to pay the carbon tax to bike or take transit.

Furey noted if rural Canadians don’t have other transit options – and many don’t – then “the fundamental premise on which the [carbon tax] is based is flawed.”

Furey was also a leader in calling on Trudeau to take the carbon tax off all home heating, noting repeatedly that heating one’s home in Canada in the winter is not optional.

Under pressure, Trudeau finally did so through a temporary suspension of the carbon tax on home heating oil, which is a popular method of home heating in Atlantic Canada, but not in other regions of the country.

To Furey’s credit, he continued to call on the federal government to offer relief to Canadians who don’t use furnace oil for home heating.

Juxtapose that against the policies of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Without campaigning on it, Trudeau sprung a carbon tax on Canadians in 2019. He’s increased it every year since. And he plans to keep jacking it up every year until 2030.

Trudeau has tried to sell his policies by claiming most Canadians are getting more money back from carbon tax rebates than they pay in carbon taxes. Many of Trudeau’s allies have suggested that somehow the carbon tax actually is an affordability measure.

But the Parliamentary Budget Officer has laid out the truth: the average Canadian family is losing money from the carbon tax, big time.

The average Newfoundland and Labrador family lost $347 from the carbon tax last year, even after the rebates. That’s set to climb to $1,316 a year by 2030.

For years, Trudeau told us families would be better off with the carbon tax. But after pressure from Furey and other Atlantic Canadian politicians, he temporarily removed the carbon tax on home heating oil for the next three years.

If that’s not a mea culpa that the carbon tax makes life less affordable, then Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny must be real.

The broader contrast between Furey and Trudeau is their approach to cost of living. Furey looks at what’s taking cash out of families’ wallets – gas and carbon taxes – and tries to lessen that burden by fighting for lower taxes. Trudeau’s solution to make life more affordable appears to be more taxes, more spending and more debt.

The bottom line is that Trudeau, who is sinking in the polls and faces frustrated taxpayers from coast to coast, should learn a thing or two from Furey. Canadians want life to be more affordable, and that means lowering the tax burden, not increasing it.

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Media

CBC bonuses total $15 million in 2023

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News release from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation gave out $14.9 million in bonuses in 2023, according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

This comes on the heels of a CBC announcement in December 2023, just weeks before Christmas, that the public broadcaster was planning to lay off hundreds of employees.

Since 2015, the CBC has issued $114 million in bonuses.

“CBC President Catherine Tait is wrong to hand out bonuses while announcing hundreds of job losses and begging the government for more taxpayer cash,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Tait won’t do the right thing, so Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge needs to step in and shut down these bonuses.”

All told, 1,143 CBC staffers took a bonus in 2023, costing taxpayers $14,902,755. That number could climb even higher as the records indicate the data is up to date “as of Oct. 26, 2023.”

“[Bonus] pay… is a key part of the total compensation of our non-union staff, about 1,140 employees,” Tait recently told a parliamentary committee.

Tait was called to testify at the committee in January 2024 on executive bonuses and planned layoffs at the public broadcaster.

The CBC also dished out $11.5 million in raises (to date) for the 2023-24 fiscal year, with 6,575 employees taking a pay bump, representing 87 per cent of its workforce, according to separate access-to-information records obtained by the CTF. There were no pay cuts.

The CBC has rubberstamped $97 million in pay raises since 2015.

There are now 1,450 CBC staffers taking home a six-figure salary, according to access-to-information records obtained by the CTF.

Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power in 2015, the number of CBC employees taking a six-figure annual salary has spiked by 231 per cent.

Following Tait’s committee appearance, during which she claimed the public broadcaster was subject to “chronic underfunding,” the federal government announced it was increasing funding to the CBC by 96.1 million.

The CBC will receive $1.4 billion in taxpayer funding for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Tait’s annual pay is between $472,900 and $623,900, which includes salary, bonus and other benefits, according to the CBC’s senior management compensation summary.

In 2014, Tait’s predecessor, Hubert Lacroix, told a Senate committee his annual bonus was “around 20 per cent.”

“Tait should be taking a pay cut and ending bonuses,” Terrazzano said. “It’s time for the government to end the taxpayer-funded bonuses at the CBC.”

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