Sparking change: Designing a cleaner energy future

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World

Humans are wired to want more. More time, more resources, more money. But what if we could do more with what we already have? When we innovate for resilience, we often think big — bypassing solutions in our own homes. Today, we’re looking at the design of objects (like electric cars and heat pumps) and discovering their purpose can go far beyond the original intent. As we move to more sustainable forms of power, energy storage is becoming increasingly important. Here, we explore novel ways we can address energy intermittency in the future and also look back in history for lessons in making those kinds of changes.

Featured in this episode:

• François Lefèvre is a senior manager of market intelligence and corporate planning at Nissan Canada. He’s watched the evolution of EVs in Canada — and is an expert on the many models of Nissan LEAF.
• Ruth Sandwell is an energy historian who teaches at OISE and the University of Toronto. She researches the changes in household behaviour that resulted from the adoption of new forms of energy systems.
• Imran Noorani is the CSO of Peak Power and a clean energy enthusiast. Peak Power’s AI-based technology optimizes buildings through the intelligent management of energy use, energy storage and EV-grid integration.
• Wayne Grosko is an applied research scientist who studies renewable energy. Wayne focuses on the piloting of new technologies, one of them being the Stash Energy heat pump.
• Daniel Larsen, co-founder & CPO of Stash Energy. Stash has created a heat pump that goes further than the traditional. Not only does it heat and cool homes, it actually stores heat energy and uses it during peak hours to offset demand on the grid (and consumer’s wallets).

Further Reading:

• Why You (and the Planet) Really Need a Heat Pump
• How storing energy without batteries could be key to N.S. giving up fossil fuels
• How electric vehicles could transform the power grid
• How Households Shape Energy Transitions
• Driving Change: Transportation And Electric Utility Industries Will Soon Collide – In A Good Way

The Mission from MaRS initiative was created to help scale carbon reducing innovations by working to remove the barriers to adopting new technology. Mission from MaRS thanks its founding partners, HSBC, Trottier Family Foundation, RBC Tech for Nature and Thistledown Foundation. It has also received generous support from Peter Gilgan Foundation, BDC, EDC and Mitsubishi Corporation Americas. Learn more about the program at missionfrommars.ca.

MaRS helps entrepreneurs looking to scale solutions in climate tech, health and software. We offer targeted support through our Capital and Growth Acceleration programs. To learn more visit us at marsdd.com