University research contributes to fast-growing clean tech sector

A new study from Clean Energy Canada finds that the sector has grown faster than the rest of the country’s economy between 2010 and 2017. At the same time, almost as many Canadians are working in clean energy related companies as are employed in real estate – approximately 300,000.

The report points out that “clean energy” is a term that encompasses far more than “clean energy supply.” Innovative products and processes that respond to consumer demand to reduce individual and family impacts on the environments have created new industries and tens of thousands of jobs in construction, manufacturing and transportation.

Research and graduates coming out of universities, in fields such as biofuels and environmental law, are contributing to this increasingly important economic sector. U of T is the seventh leading producer of research and scholarship in environmental research and environmental sciences and third in North America, U of T President Meric Gertler has pointed out.

Over the past three years alone, U of T attracted more than $300-million in funding for clean technology and renewable energy research. In the last five years, 72 start-ups have been created in this space at the university.