Alberta Innovates has announced the start of Phase III of the Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge (CFGC). Up to $20 million will be available to selected teams in Phase III as they work to successfully demonstrate that they can produce pre-commercial amounts of carbon fibre from Alberta bitumen.
In Phase III of CFGC, teams will concentrate on repeatedly producing carbon fibre from Alberta bitumen that meets end-user performance needs. Teams will test their carbon fibre prototypes in products which could include auto parts, reinforced concrete or wood projects, or general composite (plastic) materials.
Teams in Phase III must be able to produce between .5 kilograms – 1 kilogram of carbon fibre per day, and with technologies able to scale to hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year production with a cost below $9 per kilogram, or at least 50 per cent less expensive than current carbon fibre products.
The competition is open to technology developers, industry – including small, medium and large size enterprises, industry associations, research and development (R&D) organizations, post-secondary institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and government research labs. Research teams can submit applications for Phase III on the Alberta Innovates website.
Applications will open on May 1, 2023 and are due June 15, 2023 and the successful candidates will be announced in September 2023. Research teams will have 36 months to complete their projects. The CFGC is a three-phase competition that accelerates the development, and large-scale production, of carbon fibre derived from Alberta’s vast supply of bitumen.
Learn more about the challenge at a CFGC webinar on May 3rd.
Full Phase III program details can be found on the Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge website.
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