New Program Supporting Low-carbon Innovation for Industry

Ministry of Research Innovation and Science

and Ministry of Environment and Climate Change

Helping Fight Climate Change and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Pollution in Ontario

Niagara, ON – Dec 8, 2017

Ontario is supporting industries to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from their facilities or manufacturing processes through a new program from the Green Ontario Fund, a non-profit provincial agency funded by proceeds from the province’s carbon market.

Chris Ballard, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, was joined today by Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science, and Parminder Sandhu, Green Ontario Fund board chair, to announce the launch of GreenON Industries and the successful applicants for TargetGHG, a similar industry-focused program.

GreenON Industries will provide funding for eligible projects that reduce greenhouse gas pollution in buildings and the production of goods by large emitters and other industrial, commercial and institutional facilities. Projects could involve switching to less carbon intensive fuels, redirecting harmful carbon dioxide emissions back into production processes, upgrading energy inefficient production equipment and introducing production processes that require fewer energy resources.

GreenON Industries builds on the TargetGHG program, which brings together large industries, innovative cleantech companies and research consortiums in order to develop new technologies that will help lower greenhouse gas emissions, support innovation and strengthen the economy. Both programs are key parts of the province’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from industry, which generates almost a third of Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The TargetGHG projects announced today include using landfill gas to generate electricity in an auto plant, a fast-charging station for electric vehicles and a more efficient way of capturing solar energy.

Making it easier for businesses to choose, access and adopt low-carbon products and technologies is part of Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.