Evidence of meeting #45 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was technology.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
Well, it would border more on a CRA perspective, because it's investment in the technologies, although it does cross into seemingly transportation technologies. The ideas are laid out in five bullets. I don't know which specific policies or acts they would be applied to, but they are delineated in my—
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
But there is a regulation you need removed or streamlined in order to get access to more investment capital? What is it?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
Sorry, no. They are recommendations to help facilitate.... I have the five points right in front of me. They are delivered to you, instead of explaining it. They're bullet points, but there are details to it that must be elaborated.
For example, on tax credits to investors.... Do I have time to give an example?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
Coles Notes.
An early-stage company looking for money typically can't find investor capital and has to go to traditional friends and family. Friends and family come up with $1 million because they believe in this idea, the technology, and there's a commercial value. That $1 million of invested seed capital from friends and family, in our opinion, should be directly applied as a tax credit against future tax. That removes the government from having to fund early-stage companies, and it puts the onus more on the investor and the technology. It's a facility to draw them closer together, which is the initial problem to begin with, as an example.
Conservative
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
Tax treatment, yes.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Good.
Are there any transportation regulations that need to be changed in order to commercialize your flywheel technology?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
This is a particular challenge; there is no regulation because flywheels aren't in vehicles right now.
You'd have to write a whole new policy surrounding safety—
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
We'd need a whole new policy revolving around flywheels.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
But is there anything that would stop you from putting a flywheel in a car right now? If there is no regulation, what would stop you?
Conservative
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
I will take that under advisement, sir.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Sometimes if you wish for regulations you might...you have to be careful what you wish for.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
Well, from a safety perspective there is.
October 4th, 2012 / 11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Mr. Tarasco, to summarize your technology for the non-engineers in the room, when the driver hits the brakes, they create energy that makes a wheel spin inside the car. When the driver hits the gas pedal later on, energy from the spinning wheel helps power the car forward. Is that it?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Energy Inc.
Correct. In a nutshell, that's it.