How will Canadian communities transition away from fossil fuels and towards more sustainable sources of energy? It’s the million-dollar question — or perhaps the $83.6 million dollar question, to be precise.

The Accelerating Community Energy Transformation (ACET) initiative, spearheaded by UVic, just received $83.6 million in funding to scale clean energy transitions for small-to-mid-sized communities across the country. The project will focus on six research areas, including low-carbon and offshore renewable energy tech research, green hydrogen and e-fuels, as well as innovation in business and finance.

Although 99 percent of B.C.’s electricity comes from renewable sources, electricity only makes up a portion of the province’s total energy use, and 70 percent of the region’s power still relies on fossil fuels. Much of this fossil-fuel-driven consumption takes place in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.

ACET hopes to take a “bottom-up” approach to community energy transitions, which centers place-based, local knowledge at the heart of solutions. While UVic is leading the project, there are over 40 community and industry partners currently involved. These include five First Nations, and local post-secondary institution partner Royal Roads University.

The funding comes from the federal government through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, as one of 11 large-scale research initiatives supported by nearly $1.4 billion across the country.