Clean Technology and

Environmental Services Sector

Growth Plan

Establishing Priorities

Summary

February 2020
CONTENTS
Background 1

Themes Identified 3

Scoring Methodology 5

Scoring Results 7

Next Steps 12
Background
In May of 2019, the Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Industry Association (NEIA) engaged the
provincial Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation (TCII) and the Atlantic Canada
Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to form a steering committee with the objective to develop a growth
strategy for the clean technology and environmental services sector.

Partners agreed that the timing was right for NEIA to identify key priorities with respect to supporting
business entrepreneurship, innovation, and acceleration within the sector. This decision was based on
the recent publication of numerous provincial public/private industry growth strategies, the release of
the province’s climate change action plan, the commencement and anticipated conclusion of a number
of relevant initiatives, and a continued robust interest in the sector from the federal government.

An important first step in this process was to undertake a situational analysis to understand the context
from which a strategy should be developed. This situational analysis (Phase 1 of the initiative) was
divided into three separate components.

PART 1: Literature Review

The first component developed for the situational analysis was a
literature review of newly available strategic publications relevant to
Newfoundland and Labrador’s clean technology and environmental
services sector. A wide variety of stakeholders were consulted to assist in
compiling the list of publications to be reviewed – a list that included key
industry and relevant geographic strategies. These stakeholders were
again engaged to provide insights related to the literature review’s
findings. The materials summarized in this literature review would be
used to help establish priorities for the clean technology and
environmental services sector.

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 PART 2: Innovation and Support Ecosystem
The second component developed for the situational analysis was a
cataloguing of existing supports (program and/or financial) that are (or
have recently been) accessible to assist firms in Newfoundland and
Labrador’s clean technology and environmental services sector.
Mapping the ecosystem in this regard will be essential in understanding
what programming already exists that can be leveraged to support the
growth of the sector’s established priority areas – and in identifying
possible gaps that may act as barriers.

PART 3: Growth Strategies and Supporting

Policies
The third component developed for the situational analysis was to
identify clean technology and environmental growth strategies
deployed in leading Canadian jurisdictions, and gain an understanding
of best-practice recommendations that have been made and acted
upon in support of the sector. As Newfoundland and Labrador
establishes its key priorities and opportunities for its own sector, this
information will provide valuable insight into what actions can be taken
in support of the pursuit thereof.

With Phase 1 complete, Phase 2 – Establishing Priorities began with an analysis of the literature review to
identify any ‘themes’ that emerged – commonalities in terms of ideas, concepts, challenges, opportunities,
objectives, etc. Given the relatively small size of the sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, it was agreed that
the resulting strategy would be more impactful if it focused on areas that were cross-sectoral in their
application as opposed to specific elements of individual industries. This ensured a diversified approach to
sector growth and by design would encourage cross-sectoral collision and collaboration.

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Themes Identified
The literature review was analyzed to identify commonalities within the included materials. The following six
themes emerged as having some importance across multiple industry and/or geographic strategies.

Note that the definitions and examples provided for each theme are internal – used only to provide
context and guidance and not intended to be public-facing or permanent.

Characterization and Monitoring

Understanding the environment, our impact upon it, and its impact on us through the use of technology
(lasers, radar, satellite, lidar, sonar, cameras, human senses, etc.).

Examples:
▪ Acquiring high-definition video subsea
▪ Understanding the composition of our forests to enable more efficient harvesting
▪ Mapping and ascertaining the environmental importance of wetlands via satellite
▪ Measuring ocean wave size, frequency, and trajectory through radar
▪ Predicting the development, pathway, and characteristics of icebergs

Electrification
Transition of technologies and processes from using fossil fuels to electricity.

Examples:
▪ Retrofitting building heating systems to use electricity (e.g. versus oil furnaces, heat pumps)
▪ Transition towards electric vehicles, busses, marine vessels, aircraft, etc.
▪ Installing the infrastructure required to support the above (e.g. marine ports)
▪ Powering offshore oil and gas facilities and operations through power-from-shore
▪ Retrofitting gas/diesel turbines at remote mine sites to electric technologies

Renewable Energy
Development and/or adoption of clean energy technologies.

Examples:
▪ Displacement of diesel electricity generation in remote off-grid communities
▪ Displacement of fossil-fuel based electricity generation at remote industrial sites (mining)
▪ Provision of clean energy in-situ for offshore activities
▪ Powering subsea vehicles, sensors, etc.
▪ Use of biomass to provide heating for households and businesses
▪ Micro generation
▪ Macro generation for export (e.g. offshore wind, wave/tidal, hydro)

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Waste Management
Recycling/repurposing/extracting value from waste. In the NL context, this can include both waste in the
traditional sense (e.g. residential, commercial, and industrial ‘garbage’) and also niche forms of waste (e.g.
wastewater, oil spills).

Examples:
▪ Dealing with mortalities / effluent emanating from aquaculture operations
▪ Extracting the most value from wood and bark chips in the forestry industry
▪ Minimizing waste rock and wastewater created through mining processes
▪ Wastewater generated by municipalities, and industries (e.g. mining, oil and gas)
▪ Accidental waste events, e.g. oil spills

Transportation
Reducing the environmental impact created by the movement of people/goods/services/wastes.

Examples:
▪ Reducing the need for transportation of goods and services to remote sites
▪ Driver training to increase efficiency of transportation
▪ Adoption of zero-emissions transportation technologies
▪ The design and construction of different modes of transportation
▪ Collaboration between industry/regional partners to identify transportation efficiencies

Operational Efficiency
Increasing the efficiency of industry through the refinement or introduction of new processes to improve
environmental outcomes – through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, waste, materials, water use,
etc.

Examples:
▪ Optimizing use of pumps, valves, compressors, etc. in industrial operations to save energy
▪ Conservation and demand management (CDM) in the electricity sector (and energy
customers)
▪ Reduction of material inputs into manufacturing and production processes
▪ Reduction of GHGs in mining operations by optimizing use of diesel generators
▪ Reducing the need for transportation of goods and services to remote sites

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Scoring Methodology
With six themes identified, the next objective was to gain an understanding of the growth potential related
to each. What were the strengths? Weaknesses? Opportunities? Important considerations? In establishing
priorities, having some basis to compare the potential of each theme relative to one another was important.

The agreed approach to acquire this understanding was through a scoring exercise that graded each theme
(characterization and monitoring, electrification, renewable energy, waste management, transportation, and
operational efficiency) according to their application and growth potential within a series of industry verticals
(aquaculture, fishery, forestry, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, electricity, and other). Each theme would be
scored from 1-10 within each vertical.

Though this scoring was informed by the content of the literature review, it did introduce a degree of
subjectivity into the process (e.g. one’s personal opinions of the value and opportunity of a particular theme
within a particular vertical). Strategy development is an inherently subjective exercise, but to ensure the
information contributing to that strategy was objective as possible, a balanced scorecard approach was used
in this scoring process.

Figure 1.1 – The Balanced Scorecard Used for the Strategy

The Balanced Scorecard

The balanced scorecard is used regularly throughout businesses and organizations as a strategic planning
tool. It is a mechanism that ensures decisions being made weigh the relevant variables appropriately; by
predefining the relative ‘importance’ of each variable before scoring begins, decision-makers can arrive at
their conclusions by ensuring that (1) the most critical factors are treated as such, and (2) they are not being
unduly influenced by factors that provoke interest but are in fact not as relevant.

The use of the balanced scorecard in the context of the development of this sector growth plan is an effort to
introduce a degree of objectivity into what is a subjective process – and to provide a process by which
important information can be extracted and considered.

There are three elements to a balanced scorecard – inputs, weights, and outputs.
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Inputs

The inputs for the strategy’s balanced scorecard are the 1-10 scores already described – the grading of each
theme according to their application and growth potential within a series of industry verticals.

Weights

The key to the balanced scorecard is the application of ‘weights’ – or multiplication factors by which scores
should be applied against in order to reach a more balanced result. For example, if X is two times as
important as Y, then in the scoring process a 10/10 applied to X should be worth twice as much in decision-
making as a 10/10 applied to Y. Treating these as equal scores would be misleading.

In this strategy, two weights were applied to the original scoring to balance the results: the (1) economic
growth / innovation potential of each theme, and (2) the relative importance of each industry to
Newfoundland and Labrador.

Economic Growth / Innovation Potential of Each Theme

All forms of business do not have the same economic impact. The design, manufacture, and export
of a product has a greater impact on an economy than the provision of domestic consulting services.
In a similar vein, it would not be appropriate to treat the six identified themes as being the same.
Each theme was thus attributed a weight according to the following important economic
development criteria: domestic market potential; commercialization potential; export potential;
existing research capacity; existing private sector capacity; and regulatory framework (drivers or
barriers).

Relative Importance of Each Industry to Newfoundland and Labrador

Not all industries have the same importance to an economy, and thus they should not be treated
equally in a scoring process like the one used here. If Theme 1 has enormous growth potential within
Industry X, but Industry X is very small, the economic opportunity may not in fact as promising as it
may have first appeared. Thus, each industry is attributed a weight according to their relative
importance to the province’s economy. These weights were developed combining a quantitative
measure (contribution to provincial gross domestic product) with a qualitative measure (strategic
importance). A qualitative measure was introduced because GDP measures the past, whereas certain
industries may be expected to grow over the course of time and thus become increasingly impactful.

There is, of course, a subjective quality to each of these weighting mechanisms. However, their application
will have an important balancing effect on the original scoring.

Outputs

To achieve the outputs, each original score (where each theme was scored against each industry vertical) was
weighed (or multiplied) by both the (1) economic growth / innovation potential of the theme, and (2) the
relative importance of the industry.

The scores for each theme against each industry vertical were then added up to a total score which
represented an overall placing.

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Scoring Results
Below is a graphic that provides a summary of the scoring process – before the balanced scorecard approach
was applied.

TOTALS - NON-WEIGHTED
Operational
Characterization &
Efficiency
Monitoring
18%
22%

Transportation
17% Electrification
15%

Renewable Energy
Waste Management 8%
20%

Below are the results after applying the balanced scorecard approach.

RESULTS - WEIGHTED
Operational
Efficiency
17%
Characterization &
Transportation Monitoring
6% 37%

Waste Management
22%

Renewable Energy Electrification

2% 16%

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Interestingly, the results (non-weighted vs. weighted) were not substantially different, which indicated that
the original analysis of the literature review was a reasonably good one.

‘Characterization and monitoring’ increased in its importance, a change that could be attributed to the both
the substantial private sector and academic capacity within the province and its broad application across
industry. ‘Transportation’ on the other hand, while a challenge across the economy at-large, diminished in
importance – a change that could mostly be attributed to the lack of product/service development within the
province and the fact that decisions relating to this theme are typically made outside of Newfoundland and
Labrador.

However, the graphics above should not be understood to be an indication of the degree of effort or focus
that will be attributed to each theme going forward. The results do provide some insight as to the impact that
can be expected for actions that are taken within each theme. But in reality, the total scores are less
important in the development of this strategy than the information gleaned through the scoring process.

This information, which served as some of the rationale through the analysis, is summarized in brief below.

Characterization and Monitoring

Strengths:
▪ Technologies are cross-sectoral in their application
▪ Significant number of private sector firms involved in providing solutions
▪ Technologies can provide solutions to several of NL’s key industries, providing significant opportunity
for collaboration, R&D, demonstration projects, and early adoption locally
▪ Technologies developed in NL are internationally competitive and highly exportable
▪ Strong research capacity is evident to support industry

Weaknesses:
▪ Federal cleantech funding programs – whether they are focused on research and development,
commercialization, or adoption/application – are most often tied explicitly to demonstrable GHG
reductions.
▪ Though characterization and monitoring technologies can be defined as cleantech and play
significant role in enabling the mitigation of environmental effects, they are typically not
eligible for federal programming because they do not achieve the reductions themselves

Key Strategic Growth Opportunities:

▪ Continued innovation and entrepreneurship leveraging partnership with key stakeholders (build on
your strengths)
▪ Pursuit of innovation and entrepreneurship within emerging aquaculture industry
▪ Complement growing awareness of oceanic NL expertise in this space w/ terrestrial capabilities

Key Ecosystem Considerations:

▪ The topic is emerging as a strong focus within Canada’s Oceans Super Cluster
▪ Cross-over exists in terms of the types of firms involved and the organizations that can provide
support; open communication required w/ ecosystem actors to avoid duplication.

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Electrification
Strengths:
▪ Electrification is a strong international trend; cleantech developed in this space will have
international markets
▪ Electrification has emerged as an important priority within the province for the purposes of rate
mitigation; increased electrification is in the interest of the taxpayer and/or ratepayer
▪ As there are environmental benefits associated with electrification (e.g. decreased GHG emissions),
there are a wide number of possible funding supports available for the adoption and application of
technologies, and intermittently maybe R&D as well

Weaknesses:
▪ Little private sector development of products/services domestically (solutions driven by
national/international firms)
▪ The degree to which local firms can participate in electrification initiatives is in question; solutions
provided may be beyond the scale at which SMEs can participate (except for larger engineering and
consulting firms)

Key Strategic Growth Opportunities:

▪ Alignment between economy and environment (domestically and internationally) will create a very
supportive environment for the development of new products and services, and the application of
existing ones
▪ Potential for significant economic activity in the short term and the stimulation of R&D activity for
longer-term results

Key Ecosystem Considerations:

▪ There are few actors involved in this space; NEIA could play significant role in moving priorities
forward
▪ Major players operating within the province may have a vested interest in partnership (some of
whom have national and international reach)

Renewable Energy
Strengths:
▪ NL has expertise related to micro and macro hydro-electricity projects that may be exportable
▪ NL’s expertise developed through the offshore oil and gas industry has proven to be transferrable to
marine renewable industries (e.g. offshore wind)
▪ Renewable energy R&D, commercialization, and adoption initiatives could be supported by a variety
of federal programs (particularly if attached to demonstrable GHG reductions)
▪ Renewable energy attracts the interest and passion of young professionals, as it is a tangible
representation of clean growth

Weaknesses:
▪ Regulatory framework is highly restrictive for renewable energy projects
▪ As NL’s electricity mix will soon feature 98% clean energy, there is less environmental benefit
associated with renewable energy application than seen in other jurisdictions, and thus less financial
/ policy support (particularly impactful on micro-solutions)
▪ Off-grid opportunities are not numerous enough to support sustainable growth of developers
▪ Macro renewable energy resources are ‘stranded’ by lack of transmission
infrastructure; it is beyond the ability of the private sector to influence circumstances

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Key Strategic Growth Opportunities:
▪ Addressing current off-grid challenges, with the intention of leveraging experiences gained to pursue
like projects nationally and internationally
▪ The exploitation of expertise, skills, and knowledge relating to hydro and/or offshore operations
▪ The use of micro-renewable energy in remote offshore circumstances to support other operations
(e.g. environmental characterization and monitoring)
▪ Exploration of the ‘hydrogen’ angle - the production, use, and/or export of hydrogen is an emerging
space of global interest; may be opportunity for NL to develop some capacity given its wealth of
energy resources and potentially complementary offshore oil and gas infrastructure.

Key Ecosystem Considerations:

▪ Strong partners in region for specific applications, e.g. marine renewables, forestry, etc.

Waste Management
Strengths:
▪ NL being a remote location distant from major markets, waste management is a significant issue
across the economy – solutions are required, and potentially exportable to other jurisdictions
▪ The waste management challenges experienced by various industries (e.g. agriculture, fisheries,
aquaculture, mining, forestry, etc.) may present opportunity for cross-cutting solutions
▪ Industry(s) require innovative solutions in the short term
▪ A relatively strong contingent of firms with interests in waste management exists in NL
▪ Niche research capacity exists, particularly in industrial bio waste management

Weaknesses:
▪ Lots of interested firms, but not many with strong commitments to innovation
▪ Federal cleantech funding programs – whether they are focused on research and development,
commercialization, or adoption/application – are most often tied explicitly to demonstrable GHG
reductions.
▪ Though waste management products and services can be defined as cleantech and play
significant role in enabling the mitigation of environmental effects, they may not result in
significant GHG reductions themselves

Key Strategic Growth Opportunities:

▪ Addressing immediate needs of forestry, fishery, aquaculture industries
▪ Developing economical solutions for residential and commercial organic waste management

Key Ecosystem Considerations:

▪ The province is currently reviewing its waste management strategy, which may have implications on
the above
▪ With respect to municipal wastewater, there is desperate need for action and funding available for
action. However there has been little activity in NL, which is unfortunate as there are several
manufactured-right-here solutions.
▪ Strong partners in region for specific applications (e.g. specific to each industry) – NEIA can help
thread the needle

Transportation
Strengths:
▪ An issue across the board in all industrial and commercial activity in NL

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 ▪ Where the adoption of technologies can result in reduced GHG emissions, there may be funding
support available
▪ A particular expertise in and around marine transportation exists (e.g. ship/vessel design)
▪ Significant marine transportation activity by virtue of presence of DFO, Coast Guard, various oceans-
based industries, and a variety of marine ports

Weaknesses:
▪ Most opportunities are in adopting existing technologies or finding efficiencies
▪ Many key operators of major transportation assets are either multi-national corporations or public
entities, minimizing the opportunity for collaborative R&D, demonstration projects, early adoption,
etc.
▪ There is a very small number of firms developing technologies or providing unique solutions

Key Strategic Growth Opportunities:

▪ Facilitating adoption of clean technologies can contribute to the long-term sustainability and success
of public, commercial, and industrial operations
▪ Supporting the adoption of existing clean transportation technologies through investment in
enabling infrastructure (e.g. charging infrastructure at bus depots, electrified marine ports, etc.)

Key Ecosystem Considerations:

▪ There are few strong representative bodies of various transportation actors active in NL

Operational Efficiency
Strengths:
▪ Operational efficiencies can reduce both financial costs and environmental impacts
▪ Demonstrating reduced env. impact is increasingly important for the long-term interests of
industries, and implementing operation efficiency measures are often the least-cost option
▪ Initiatives that require capital investments to achieve a demonstrable reduction in GHGs are eligible
for a number of existing funding measures
▪ Conservation and demand management (CDM) has emerged as an important priority within the
province for the purposes of rate mitigation; widespread application is in the interest of the taxpayer
/ ratepayer

Weaknesses:
▪ The concept is a nebulous one; as each solution applied is as unique as the situation it was designed
for, it is more difficult to define (and support) than a typical product or service
▪ As solutions developed will be highly customized to a particular context, the exportability of
solutions is in question

Key Strategic Growth Opportunities:

▪ Contributing to the long-term sustainability and success of industry in the province

Key Ecosystem Considerations:

▪ Some organizations locally provide programming that helps firms explore such operational
efficiencies

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Next Steps
With this information in hand, what are the next steps in the development of a growth strategy for
Newfoundland and Labrador’s clean technology and environmental services sector?

The first step is to ground truth what was learned. Are the conclusions that we came to within each theme
accurate? We will be engaging key stakeholders and partners to validate the findings.

Next, deliberations will begin on what the themes – each of which can be thought of as a micro ‘cluster’ of
activity – need in order to achieve growth. This is where Part 2 of the situational analysis, the mapping of the
innovation and support ecosystem, will be of value. Given the identified needs, what supports already exist
to assist in this growth? What supports are missing, and what gaps need to be filled? At this point, the
materials will also be reviewed to incorporate any important sector growth challenges/opportunities
identified that were not explicitly tied to either a specific theme or industry vertical.

Finally, leveraging Part 3 of the situational analysis (a jurisdictional scan of relevant growth strategies and
supporting policies), an overarching strategy will be developed to pursue growth for the sector. Before
implementation, this work will again be pitched to key stakeholders and partners to ensure there is a
reasonable agreement on the path forward.

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