2013 Grants in Gear Winning Applications
Organization: Fraser Basin Council
Project Name: E3 Fleet: Gear Up!
Location: British Columbia
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Description: In organizations that operate fleets, inefficiencies are common – resulting in wasted fuel and unnecessary emissions. However, fleet managers often lack the tools and data needed to assess their current performance and identify – and ultimately realize – opportunities to reduce these emissions and save on costs. The E3 Fleet program is Canada’s Green Rating System for public and private vehicle fleets. The program’s mission is to reduce fleet emissions and improve environmental and economic performance. This project will provide customized solutions to improve the performance and efficiency of ten fleets throughout Canada by providing an incentive for their participation in the E3 Fleet Review.
Organization: Recycling Council of Alberta (RCA)
Project Name: GHG Quantification Protocol for Recycling
Location: Alberta
Grant Amount: $24,790
Project Description: The RCA is working with stakeholders to develop an Offset Quantification Protocol that will apply to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the diversion of waste from disposal through recycling. This protocol works within the parameters of Alberta’s Offset Credit System which regulates large industry emitters to comply with the province’s greenhouse gas emission reductions program. There is a large difference in the amount of energy (and associated GHG emissions) required to manufacture from recycled versus virgin inputs and an unrealized potential for recycling in Canada that could deliver millions, even tens of millions of tonnes of CO2e reduction per year. This project will determine whether a protocol can be designed that will satisfy the criteria of carbon offset markets, thereby adding relatively significant value and incentive to the recycling industry. This protocol could become the benchmark for how (or even whether) waste recycling efforts find their way into carbon offset markets.
Organization: Plug’n Drive
Project Name: Equipping Condominium Associations to Allow and Encourage Electric Vehicles
Location: Ontario
Grant Amount: $25,000
Project Overview: More than 1 in 10 Ontarians live in a condominium, but there are barriers that prevent the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in these buildings. Plug’n Drive is accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in Canada through an ongoing campaign to educate consumers about electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. With this funding, Plug’n Drive will identify and address technical, legislative and logistical issues that prevent the installation of EV charging stations in condominiums. In partnership with WWF-Canada and the Canadian Condominium Institute -Toronto Chapter, Plug’n Drive will develop a seminar that will equip condo boards with information to prepare for the arrival of electric vehicles in their building and to install, or allow their residents to install, EV charging stations.
Organization: Automotive Recyclers Environmental Association (AREA)
Project name: Stewardship of ELVs in Remote Northern Communities
Location: British Columbia
Grant Amount: $25,000 + $5,000 (Green Recycled Parts Impact Award)
Project Description: In most parts of Canada, there is a network of automotive recyclers (including ARC members) who are able to properly manage vehicles once they reach their end of life. In remote northern communities where there is little recycling infrastructure, these end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) often end up in landfill because the cost to transport them to markets exceeds the value of the parts and steel. AREA will help address this issue in the community of Dease Lake, British Columbia by establishing an ELV processing area at the local landfill that will serve communities in the area. Hazardous materials including refrigerants, lead-acid batteries and mercury switches will be removed at this location, and local staff will be trained to process ELVs to the standard of the Canadian Auto Recyclers’ Environmental Code (CAREC). The Grants in Gear funding will also help subsidize the transportation of the ELVs to a facility where they can be recycled into new steel.
Green Recycled Parts Impact Award: AREA was also selected to receive the Green Recycled Parts Impact Award, which they will use to develop programs for additional remote locations and First Nations Communities, and demonstrate how the CAREC standard for auto recycling can be applied in remote locations.