Innovations

A global leader in natural gas engines, Vancouver, BC-based Westport Innovations Inc. last Friday said it has acquired a leading conversion company, BAF Technologies Inc., from Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the California-based natural gas vehicle (NGV) fueling company. Westport secured the deal with $25 million worth of its stock.

Royal Dutch Shell plc said Tuesday it’s ready to invest “several hundred million dollars” in promising technology companies to accelerate innovations that might add value to its operations.

A technologically advanced fuel tank for liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks was unveiled Monday by British Columbia-based Westport Innovations Inc., which claims its latest advances allow fueling for even the largest LNG vehicles on a single tank with expanded range.

Technology spawned from shale gas got special notice this month in Pennsylvania, with two innovations taking top honors in a competition geared to maximize the economic return from the Marcellus and Utica shales.

Vancouver, BC-based Westport Innovations Inc. has struck a deal with Ford Motor Co. to provide natural gas-powered engine technologies for some of the U.S. automaker’s pickup truck models, starting in the first half of 2012.

Dry natural gas production from the Barnett Shale during the first half of this year increased 6% compared with the year-ago period. Total liquids production was up 7%, mainly on a 12% gain in oil production (see chart). But the Barnett rig count has declined 25% from a year ago. Clearly, producers there are doing more with less, and it’s because they have “learned by doing.”

Vancouver, BC-based Westport Innovations Inc., a natural gas engine technology provider, has agreed to work with General Motors (GM) to advance engine technology for light-duty vehicles. It underscores that technology advances being made in gasoline and diesel transportation also can be applied to natural gas engines.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is being examined as an alternative fuel to diesel for locomotive engines by a collaboration of Canadian National Railway (CN), Westport Innovations and Gaz Metro Transportation Solutions (GMTS). They are seeking to develop a prototype LNG engine for locomotives by 2013. The project has obtained a $2.4 million grant from the Canadian government-backed Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a nonprofit that finances development of clean technologies. The project initially will concentrate on an LNG system for locomotives, both in plant and field settings. GMTS will provide LNG and fuel supply logistical expertise while CN will provide the locomotive expertise, the partners said.

Without innovations that can reduce gas demand from oilsands development in Canada or significant new supply from the Mackenzie Delta region, some analysts are predicting that Canadian gas exports to the United States could tumble by as much as 5.5 Bcf/d (63%) by 2020.