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A roadmap to lower emissions

by Keith Barker  

Natural gas is not a new fuel in Canada. In fact, we are generally regarded as an early leader in terms of market adoption and government partnering designed to assist industry with developing vehicle and refuelling technologies. Despite this, and despite the fact that we are a relatively rich natural gas producing country, as well as the fact that natural gas use provides low costs and emissions, the market for natural gas as a transportation fuel in Canada has not developed quickly.

As of the beginning of 2011, however, there has been a new development which should allow for some optimism on this front. The deployment roadmap report, issued by Natural Resources Canada, was developed with the involvement of fleet end users, environmental groups, government and industry.

This report resulted from work which began in the spring of 2010, and which was undertaken by the members of the Natural Gas Use in Transportation Roundtable. It highlights the financial and environmental benefits of introducing natural gas for trucks used along key corridors (such as those used for the transport of waste and recyclable materials, and for urban fleets such as those used for refuse and recycling collection.) 

According to the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance (CNGVA) webiste, “The deployment roadmap is a first-of-its-kind initiative that seeks to determine how best to move forward in a way that focuses on end user needs and ensures emphasis on applications that demonstrate economic sustainability.”

“This is an excellent example of federal leadership and industry collaboration,” said Jonathan Burke, Chair of the CNGVA and VP of Vancouver-based Westport Innovations (a company that has developed technologies designed to allow high-performance internal combustion engines and fuel systems to run on natural gas, biomethane and hydrogen.)

“Natural gas can provide clean, cost effective transportation solutions which will benefit all Canadians,” he said. 

Key to the report’s findings: “fleets that operate along regional corridors and in urban areas can improve competitiveness and reduce environmental impacts by using natural gas.”

The report also points to the fact that Canadian communities will benefit as a whole: specifically by the use of lower emission natural gas refuse and recyclable collection trucks and other commercial vehicles, and secondly, from local jobs created by Canadian companies.

According to the CNGVA website (www.cngva.org) natural gas trucks are available from most truck manufacturers whose products are used for refuse and recycling applications including Mack, Peterbilt, Freightliner, Autocar, and American LaFrance. These trucks incorporate dedicated natural gas engine technology – much of which is built by the Canadian company Cummins Westport. Natural gas powered trucks do not require diesel particulate filters or selective catalytic reduction to meet 2010 emission standards. In fact, the Cummins Westport ISL G was the first engine to comply with 2010 standards, and it did so in 2007. 

The deployment roadmap report is available on Natural Resource Canada’s website, or by emailing [email protected].

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