GreenCentre Canada building pilot-scale facility at Xerox Research Centre of Canada

GreenCentre Canada (GCC) has started construction of a pilot-scale desalination facility at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) to refine technology for separating dissolved solids like salt from water. The facility is the first tangible project launched under an agreement with XRCC to advance GCC's materials science technologies towards commercialization (R$, October 14/14).

GCC has established a small office at XRCC's Mississauga facility to oversee construction of the scale-up plant, with completion expected by the fall. Desalination or forward water technology holds the promise of delivering potable water more cheaply and uses less energy than other methods. The technology stems from the work of Queen's Univ professor Dr Philip Jessop and has already resulted in a spin-off company — Forward Water Technologies.

Collaboration with XRCC provides GCC with the ability to move from ideation at the university level to field pilots, while engaging technology transfer offices as well as conducting R&D work for global companies and entrepreneurs.

"XRCC has a large, commercial scale-up facility to do the kind of work we want to do and they provide engineering expertise as well," says Lyle Clarke, GCC's interim executive director (see People on page 7). The agreement also allows GCC to retain any intellectual property created as part of the technology development and scale up at XRCC.

"It's one aspect of a larger effort by GCC to grow and expand capabilities for all of our customers and take activity to the next level."

Clarke says GCC also does work at XRCC facilities with companies seeking the latest green technologies to take to market.

"The trend towards collaboration among organizations in the innovation and commercialization space is certainly a reality and a major priority with Green Centre Canada," says Clarke. "We also collaborate with other players like MaRS, the OCE (Ontario Centres of Excellence) and RICs (Regional Innovation Centres). It's an example of the next growth phase for Canada and Ontario's innovation sector."

R$