People and communities are benefiting from reduced emissions, cleaner air and more jobs in the clean economy thanks to investments in new, clean technology in local industries.

“The CleanBC Industry Fund is an important tool that accelerates development and use of new, cleaner technologies that help grow our local economy, support a more sustainable future for British Columbians and continue our collective fight against climate change,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. “Clean industry is the future and we are seizing this opportunity to work together with industry and be an international leader in this growing market.”

The CleanBC Industry Fund invests carbon taxes paid by large industries back into clean-technology projects that reduce emissions and create clean jobs.

“British Columbia is well-positioned to lead the next global wave of innovation, development and commercialization in clean transportation,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. “Today’s CleanBC Industry Fund recipients are wonderful examples of local industries taking action to reduce emissions, while creating new clean jobs for people.”

This year, the CleanBC Industry Fund is providing a total of $32.6 million to 12 large industry projects to help reduce emissions through clean technology. Applications are open for the fifth intake of projects.

Lafarge Canada is receiving more than $7 million to add additional infrastructure to allow increased co-processing of alternative fuels, reducing the use of fossil fuels at the Richmond Cement Plant. This builds on a $5-million contribution to Lafarge in 2023 to support the use of captured carbon dioxide.

“Industries play a critical role in addressing climate change and protecting the environment for future generations,” said Brad Kohl, president and CEO, Lafarge Canada, Western Canada. “We are committed to pursuing initiatives to decarbonize across our operations and are eager to see the advancements made by other recipients of the CleanBC Industry Fund.”

The City of Vancouver will receive more than $6 million to capture more methane and reduce fugitive methane emissions at its Vancouver landfill. This is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 716,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) by 2033, and builds on continued work through the CleanBC Industry Fund to collect and re-use landfill gas at the facility.

“We are excited to receive this funding, which gives us the opportunity to lead the way in making our landfills more sustainable by reducing methane emissions,” said Ken Sim, mayor of Vancouver. “Only by working together can we take this important step to protect our environment.”

Since 2019, more than $244 million has been invested back into industry, reducing more than nine million tonnes of emissions over 10 years, the same as removing almost 240,000 cars from the road each year during that time.

The Government of B.C. continues to work with industrial operators to deliver on commitments through the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030.

Quick Facts:

• CleanBC Industry Fund projects are selected through a competitive process that evaluates a number of project elements such as the business case, cost-effectiveness of emission reductions and wider impact of technology advancement.
• To be eligible, applicants must have paid carbon tax and have emissions of more than 10,000 tCO2e per year under the Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act.
• Applications for new CleanBC Industry Fund projects are open.
• New in 2024 is the CleanBC and BC Hydro Industrial Electrification Program, which supports large industrial low-carbon electrification projects that require a new or upgraded connection to the BC Hydro integrated grid.
• Funding timelines have also been extended from three years to five years.
   

Learn More:

To learn more about CleanBC Industry Fund and to see the full list of projects, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/climate-change/industry/cleanbc-industry-fund

To read the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, visit: https://www.cleanbc.ca

A backgrounder follows.