Canadian and industry officials met in Ottawa earlier this month to launch a road map to expand the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel across the country.

The meeting was coordinated by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), a branch of the federal government dedicated to enhancing the sustainable use of its natural resources and supported by the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance (CNGVA), which in late 2010 published “Natural Gas Use in the Canadian Transportation Sector,” the road map now being implemented. The roadmap’s focus initially is to develop a market for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses operating in regional corridors and urban fleets.

As Canada’s second largest sector for energy consumption, transportation is projected to grow as a user and emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to the CNGVA report. “Natural gas is an affordable, lower-emission fuel and industry is making significant investments to bring it into the transportation market,” according to Encana Corp. Vice President Wayne Geis, who is also the incoming chairman at CNGVA.

Calling it a win-win, Geis said more collaboration is expected to accelerate the fleet use of natural gas in Canada where compressed natural gas (CNG) is still in its infancy. The new initiative should “create the right conditions for even greater private-sector investment.”

NRCan said through a program called “ecoENERGY for Alternative Fuels” it plans to provide support for the early stages of the road map implementation by creating a bilingual, national website, establishing two regional resource hubs for fleets, and reinitiating codes and standards activities for natural gas vehicles.

Canada’s Minster for Natural Resources Joe Oliver said gas is expected to play “a very prominent place” in Canada’s future energy and economic development. “The government of Canada is committed to working together with the natural gas industry to encourage innovation and job creation across Canada and reduce GHG emissions.” Transportation provides a new market for Canada’s gas, offsetting the ongoing declines in the nation’s exports to the United States, Oliver said. He reiterated that the new initiative is looking to help create new jobs in the supply chain for fuel, vehicles and stations as the North American market demand for gas continues to increase.

Nevertheless, the CNGVA report, which was published a year ago, noted that despite its potential benefits as a transportation fuel, natural gas adoption in the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle markets in Canada has been “very limited to date.” The report attributed this to “significant challenges” associated with NGV deployment in Canada, including operating risks associated with costs and technology performance, high upgrade vehicle costs, lack of widespread infrastructure and some noneconomic issues like lack of experience with NGVs.

Separately a unit of California-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp., IMW Industries, last week introduced a self-contained, mobile CNG fueling station for small to mid-size vehicle fleets to be used in British Columbia. The system is mounted on a 24-foot trailer to deploy to fleet locations for new fleets or while permanent stations are under construction or undergoing equipment maintenance.

Another Clean Energy unit, BAF, which makes CNG conversion kits, also has received clearance from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to sell its CNG Ford Motor Co. Transit Connect taxis in the state. The certification is effective immediately, according to Dallas-based BAF. The company’s kits modify traditional gasoline internal combustion engines to operate on natural gas. BAF said it already has CARB authorizations for other 2012 utility and shuttle models, and it has federal Environmental Protection Agency authorization for CNG-powered versions of Ford vans, shuttles and pickup trucks.

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