Cleantech is an emerging market (News)

With increased pressure on the environment from natural and human causes, eco-friendly living has become a way of life. Many of us have diligently changed our daily habits to continuously reduce our carbon footprint.

This trend is not only in the home but also at the office. Cleantech, as a shorter term for clean technology, is changing the way we see the lifecycle of our resources, all the while creating opportunity for business growth.

Cleantech should not be confused with environmental technology or green technology. Cleantech is new technology that offers competitive returns for its investors and customers, while providing innovative solutions to global challenges. The goal of cleantech is to address ecological problems with new science, which in turn reduces the environmental impacts that occur when processing our resources.

The world market of environmental products and services is growing. In New Brunswick, we are seeing more companies make their mark in the cleantech environment.

Take for example Laforge Holstein Ltd. a 600-acre dairy operation in Grand Falls. Expected to be completed this summer, this company has built a biogas digester that will produce electricity. The biogas is actually methane that is produced by "digesting" a concoction of waste potato peel, French fries, vegetable oil and manure from the local pastures. To no one's surprise, this waste is from the McCain plant next door and the dairy farms.

And in order to complete the lifecycle, the byproduct of the digester is then processed and will be used as organic fertilizer on the fields.

This project is estimated to generate 2.5 million kwh/year of electricity (or enough to run 200 homes a year) and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15,956 tonnes per year. Historically this waste was disposed in landfills at a significant cost to the company and the reduction in carbon dioxide from the reduced transportation is 262,000 tonnes per year.

In Fredericton, ADI Limited has made important strides in being recognized internationally for its construction projects as a silver certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) company; however, it is its innovation in wastewater and landfill management that is defining them as a cleantech company.

ADI is working with many municipalities and companies around the world to efficiently and effectively manage their impact on the environment. These aggressive measures are not only important for the environment, but are quickly becoming a competitive advantage.

Although the umbrella for cleantech is rather large, some core industries find themselves in this field, being: energy generation, energy storage, energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, transportation, water and wastewater management, materials, agriculture, and recycling to name a few. These main industries are at the high level of cleantech but this list is constantly evolving.

New Brunswick is well positioned for cleantech innovation simply because of our heavy dependence on natural resources and leading edge research and development. The opportunity for entrepreneurs and scientists to work together is truly the key to unlock the next big "clean" idea. Companies, much like the general population, want to do their part and help the environment, allowing them to become more profitable while reducing their carbon footprint could be a recipe for success.

Lucas Roze is a communications officer for Enterprise Fredericton. He can be reached at lucas.roze@ent-fredericton.ca.