Nine climate solutions being developed at Ryerson

As world leaders, climate scientists and government negotiators from around the world gather in Glasgow, Scotland for the 26th United Nations Climate Conference (COP26), here at Ryerson, researchers are working on sustainable solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the climate crisis head on. Below, we highlight some of the innovative homegrown research initiatives that could have a global impact.

Designing carbon neutral housing

In the Greater Toronto Area, housing and buildings account for 48 per cent of our carbon footprint. Cheryl Atkinson, an associate professor in the Department of Architectural Science, has been working on “ZeroHouse”, an ambitious demonstration project that considers every facet of a home – including construction materials and methods, energy, heating and lighting – that contributes emissions to the earth’s atmosphere. 

Promoting circular trade 

Global economic activity is often seen as barrier to climate progress. Two Ted Rogers School of Management professors, Deborah de Lange and Philip Walsh, advocate for a circular approach to international trade agreements in order to promote reused, recycled, repurposed or upcycled goods and services that are returned to the economic system with far fewer greenhouse gas emissions along the way. 

Adapting food systems

Professors Eric Liberda, a toxicologist, and Richard Meldrum, a microbiologist, both from the School of Occupational and Public Health, have been working on collaborative projects with Fort Albany First Nation in northern Ontario since 2011. With temperatures in northern parts of Canada rising faster than the rest of the country, their research aims to reduce food insecurity by adapting local agriculture to a warming climate. 

Improving climate reporting

A comparative analysis by School of Professional Communication professor Sibo Chen about the British Columbia-based Pacific NorthWest Liquified Natural Gas pipeline project demonstrates some of the Canadian media’s blind spots when it comes to major fossil fuel construction projects and the “jobs versus environment” narrative that often dominates its coverage of them. 

Future-proofing flying

As the global aviation industry continues to grow, its reliance on petroleum-based emission-heavy fuels becomes ever more untenable. Madeline McQueen, a master’s student in aerospace engineering, is working with the National Research Council’s Gas Turbine Laboratory in Ottawa to study hybrid-electric systems as an alternative technology to traditional aircraft propulsion.

Empowering young Canadians

A new national initiative led by the Ryerson Leadership Lab aims to reach more than 270,000 young Canadians in order to increase awareness of climate change issues, give them the tools to inspire action in their local communities, and tackle some of the climate misinformation and disinformation that plagues social media networks. 

Making the case for the environment (external link) 

Angela Lee, an assistant professor in the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, focuses her research on how Canada deals with emerging technologies, particularly within food and agriculture, to help ensure that the legal safeguards and frameworks are in place to protect people and the environment.

Building smarter buildings

Led by architectural science professor Jenn McArthur, with support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the new Smart Campus Integration and Testing Lab will be hosted at Ryerson as both a showcase for smart technologies and strategies that aim to optimize energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions within buildings.

Greening the electricity grid

With more than a third of global greenhouse emissions coming from the energy sector, researchers at Ryerson’s Centre for Urban Energy have developed a peer-to-peer “transactive energy distribution system” that aims to reduce the electricity grid’s reliance on large-scale power and enable cleaner, smaller local resources such as wind, solar and battery storage.