黄色直播

Jennifer Wagner (centre) and some of her teammates

Jennifer Wagner wants to save the world鈥攁nd she wouldn鈥檛 mind leading a team to win $16 million along the way. The 黄色直播 MBA graduate (2010) is now Vice-President Sustainability at CarbonCure Technologies, a company that recycles carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in concrete. Wagner and CarbonCure are leading a team of engineers and entrepreneurs into the semifinals of the prestigious NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize global competition.

Though Wagner has an MBA, her academic career began with a BSc at McGill. She returned to her hometown of Halifax to complete a master鈥檚 in chemistry, and along the way developed a new passion: sustainability. She decided to pursue an MBA in 黄色直播鈥檚 Faculty of Management where she majored in finance but also branched out. 鈥淎ny time I had a chance to take an elective I went to the School for Resource and Environmental Studies, because that was where my passion was,鈥� she explains.

During her MBA, Wagner joined a student consulting group and discovered her talent for consulting. 鈥淲e made almost $100,000 in revenue that year,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd we did some research for NSCC that really opened my eyes to where sustainability and innovation鈥攎y two passions鈥攊ntersect.鈥� Aiming for a career in sustainability, Wagner networked broadly, eventually meeting environmental engineer Robert Niven in the last year of her MBA. 鈥淲e were talking about climate change and carbon management in Halifax, which at that time was very limited,鈥� recalls Wagner. 鈥淲hen Rob learned what I was doing, he said, 鈥極h, I can probably hire you for something.鈥欌�� Niven brought Wagner into his business, Carbon Sense Solutions, as an analyst to assist with carbon management consulting and technology development. Carbon Sense has since evolved into CarbonCure, and Wagner has evolved into a VP.

CarbonCure鈥檚 technology, explains Wagner, is a type of 鈥渃arbon utilization鈥�, a relatively new technology class that has the potential to reduce global carbon emissions by 15%. 鈥淭o date, the main way to reduce CO₂ was through carbon sequestration, where CO₂ is just pumped underground,鈥� she says. 鈥淲ith carbon utilization, rather than just getting rid of it, you鈥檙e actually using CO₂ to make better products.鈥� Carbon emissions, says Wagner, can be used as an ingredient in everything from fuel to fish food to protein powder鈥攐r, in CarbonCure鈥檚 case, concrete.

聽鈥淲e鈥檝e developed a clean technology for the concrete industry,鈥� says Wagner. 鈥淲e inject CO₂ from industrial sources like power plants into concrete, and the CO₂ becomes a solid mineral.鈥� This technique not only reduces emissions but results in a high-value product with a huge market, she notes. CarbonCure鈥檚 success bears this out: the company started nearly 10 years ago with one customer; it now has over 40, including multinational companies with hundreds of plants. 鈥淪ome of our customers say that the technology鈥檚 a no-brainer,鈥� says Wagner. 鈥淲e want everyone to say that.鈥�

As governments and private organizations focus more on environmental solutions, funding for carbon utilization is increasing. Wagner explains that carbon utilization is one of the few green technologies likely to thrive under the U.S. Trump administration, given his focus on oil and gas. 鈥淚 do feel as though CarbonCure is in the right place at the right time,鈥� says Wagner. 鈥淎nd although we鈥檙e a small group, we鈥檙e definitely punching above our weight, especially with special projects like XPrize.鈥�

The XPrize Foundation provides incentives to solve significant challenges in a variety of fields, with the NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize one of several contests and the second largest prize to date. 鈥淭he challenge is to convert carbon emissions into a product,鈥� Wagner says. Competitors are scored on how much CO₂ their technology converts, the value of the product it produces and the size of the product鈥檚 market. Teams are required to demonstrate their technology at a coal plant or a natural gas plant. 鈥淲e鈥檙e competing in both tracks,鈥� says Wagner. 鈥淭he difference is between coal and natural gas emissions, but with concrete, the source of CO₂ makes no difference to performance.鈥� Although other teams are also converting CO₂ into concrete, 鈥渨e鈥檙e set apart because of our technology鈥檚 scalability,鈥� she says. 鈥淢ost other solutions within the concrete sector are very high cost, but because CarbonCure makes a retrofit technology, it is low cost. The technology has also already been proven in the market.鈥�

Out of an initial 47 teams, 27 are now semi-finalists. This December, five finalists in each track will each receive $500,000. In 2020, the winner of each track will be declared, with $7.5 million awarded to each. Since CarbonCure is in both tracks, the total stakes for the team are $16 million.

CarbonCure partnered with other organizations to create its XPrize team. The major partners are Praxair, 鈥渢he largest industrial gas supplier in North America,鈥� and Argos, one of the world鈥檚 top cement suppliers. 鈥淐arbonCure is the team lead, and the prize is awarded to technologies that convert CO₂ emissions to products,鈥� says Wagner. 鈥淪o if our team wins, we will be awarded the money.鈥� Wagner herself is leading the team. 鈥淚t鈥檚 cool to be one of only three female team leads,鈥� she says, 鈥渁lthough it would be nice to see more women involved.鈥�

While $16 million in funding is nothing to sneeze at, Wagner emphasizes the real reason for technology like CarbonCure鈥檚. 鈥淲ith the Paris agreement and recent commitments to lower the Earth鈥檚 temperature, if we don鈥檛 act now, it鈥檚 going to be too late,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e feel it鈥檚 the right time for CarbonCure鈥檚 technology to really grow, and start reducing global emissions at a rapid rate.鈥� She describes CarbonCure鈥檚 mission: 鈥淲e want to help solve climate change and also provide economic benefits to the concrete industry.鈥�

CarbonCure鈥檚 success and the very existence of this competition have Wagner enthusiastic. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of momentum right now in clean technology, but also specifically CO₂ utilization,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 great about our technology is that it not only reduces CO₂ but also creates value. We feel this is a winning combination.鈥�