A St. John’s-based research and development organization is undertaking a project to monitor greenhouse gases in the Arctic, with support from the Provincial Government. Today, the Honourable Andrew Parsons, KC, Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology announced $148,000 in support for C-CORE as it takes on a contract from the European Space Agency to monitor methane emissions from Arctic wetlands.
The province’s contribution leverages a $300,000 investment from the European Space Agency and $80,000 from C-CORE, for a total project investment of $528,000. This work will strengthen collaboration among researchers and stakeholders involved in methane emission monitoring in the Arctic. The objective is to create better models and a greater understanding of the processes to guide future climate policy. The technology developed in this project will be valuable for understanding which areas of wetlands are more prone to degradation and should be protected, and which ones would be less affected by infrastructure development.
The research program will also provide excellent learning opportunities for students at Memorial University, as well as build local capacity in emissions monitoring capabilities for future work in the province. Students will benefit from supervision by leading professionals in this field and by working on practical research, which will have an international impact. The challenges of climate change are long-term and understanding methane emissions and mitigation is an important part of better understanding the artic environment.
The Research and Innovation Fund Program provides non-repayable contributions to non-commercial entities for research and development and innovation projects, which further supports economic development in Newfoundland and Labrador. The goal is to support highly-qualified people, research, innovative programming and infrastructure in priority areas that have the potential to strengthen research and development and innovation ecosystem capacity.
Quotes
“This project will prepare C-CORE to address ongoing and future emissions monitoring needs that can be used in multiple industries. In addition to collecting valuable data, this work will provide valuable research and technological experience to students at Memorial University, who will benefit from supervision by leading professionals in this field and by working on practical research that will have an international impact.”
Honourable Andrew Parsons, KC
Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology
“I look forward to seeing the research findings that this funding will provide as it will help us better understand and accurately measure greenhouse gas emissions in the Arctic. It is vitally important for us all, but especially for those in northern areas of Canada, to be able to understand the impacts of the changing climate on our permafrost and how those changes impact greenhouse gas emissions.”
Honourable Lisa Dempster
Minister of Environment and Climate Change
“C-CORE has decades of experience observing and interpreting the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. New satellite platforms, coupled with artificial intelligence, allow us to greatly improve emissions monitoring. The support of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will allow C-CORE to create the expertise in the province that will allow us to build on our $3M portfolio of emissions-based research and development projects.”
Paul Griffin
President & CEO, C-CORE
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