Canadian oil company Cenovus Energy has joined a number of oil companies in transitioning to greener resources with a $3.8m investment in clean energy company Saltworks through its Environmental Opportunity Fund.
Saltworks Technologies has developed an energy efficient method for converting salt water into freshwater through desalination.
Its method removes salt from saline water by using heat provided by solar energy or waste heat from power generation. It has identified potential applications for the technology in the agriculture sector and water processing industry.
The Vancouver-based company’s CEO Ben Sparrow said the company was looking forward to building low energy plants for various applications.
‘Cenovus’s investment allows us to focus on delivering a robust product to the energy industry,’ he said.
Earlier this month, Cenovus made another investment from its environmental fund into General Fusion, which is developing nuclear fusion technology.
Cenovus said it has budgeted $10m to invest in energy efficiency projects this year, which is nearly two-thirds the level of investment it has injected in the sector since the fund was founded in 2003.
Its investment focuses on the mitigation of hydrocarbon production as well as the development of renewable energy resources.
