Quebec can be a leader in reducing carbon emissions, expert says

A Montreal expert believes Quebec has the potential to be a world leader in reducing carbon emissions.

Volt-Age researches electrification and constructing net-zero buildings. CEO Karim Zaghib believes that alternative methods for powering buildings can reduce carbon emissions.

"First, we need to learn how much buildings use fossil fuel energy," said Zaghib, also a professor of chemical and materials engineering at Concordia University. "We try to see the calculations, how we can build and replace this fossil fuel energy that gives power to buildings. It can be by a combination of solar energy, batteries and making it smart (electric)."

He feels that using electric vehicles as an energy source is one way to electrify buildings and bring them closer to net-zero.

If a building stores 50 electric vehicles, each capable of holding 100 kilowatt-hours, then the building has a total of five megawatt-hours in electric vehicles, which is huge, according to Zaghib.

He believes electric vehicles can power buildings when they are not being used.

"For example, I come to the university using the subway, not using my car. So during the day, the power company and these net-zero buildings can use my car and your car if you're not using it," he said.

Electric vehicles need to become more mainstream for that to become a reality. Zaghib believes Quebec can be a pioneer because of its advantageous electricity.

"Here in Quebec, much of the electricity, nearly 100 per cent, is hydro. It's green, and it's cheaper," he said.

Due to more efficient production of batteries, electric cars are decreasing in cost, and Zaghib believes that electric vehicles can become the norm with the help of provincial and federal governments.

"In two or three years, the cost of an electric car will be the same as [that of] an internal combustion engine," he said.

Another aspect to examine is the production of batteries for those electric vehicles.

Zaghib gave the example of Tesla, which buys its batteries from Panasonic. The metals used in the batteries are imported from Chile, Indonesia, and Congo and go through China and Japan for the transformation process.

He says that Quebec could produce lithium-ion batteries--the popular choice of most giga-factories--because it already has an abundance of all the necessary materials. Quebec would then be able to bypass shipping time, extra logistics and shipping costs, and massive carbon emissions from transporting materials worldwide.

"Imagine, in Bécancour, you have all these materials, and the cell manufacturers here in Quebec," he said. "Then they can sell the battery to Lion Electric, BMW or Volkswagen. I believe we can have the cheapest batteries used in Canada because of this unique ecosystem."

The next step would be to make the sodium-ion battery--another popular choice thanks to sodium's cheap mining and transformation rate--and the lithium-ion battery as green as possible.

Zaghib believes that is the only choice because the batteries are universally used. However, he says that the process is straightforward and can be done easily.

"It's not a tough process," he added. "First, all the transformations of the minerals must use green electricity. Second, we need to have a 'zero-waste' process."

He finished by saying that the battery cells need to be water-based.

He is optimistic that net-zero can be achieved as long as everybody continues to learn.

"We really need to educate ourselves, educate students, educate the industries that we need to go into this area," he said.