Energy Innovation Brief
Issue 37 | February 2024

In Western Canada and around the world, the energy sector is rapidly transforming to one that promises to be cleaner, greener and more efficient. Each month, the Canada West Foundation’s Energy Innovation Brief brings you stories about technology innovations happening across the industry – in oil and gas, renewables, energy storage and transmission. If you have an idea for a story, email us at .

The NGIF Accelerator Emissions Testing Centre Program – a “plug and play” testing platform for methane emissions reduction technologies

There’s lots of appetite and impetus for new technologies to reduce emissions – and a lot of people and companies with ideas for how to make it happen. But for an idea to become commercialized, it first has to be proven to work. This can be hard for a start-up, and is often the point where innovation falls off a cliff. For companies working on technologies to reduce methane emissions, it can be particularly difficult to get the real-world operating data that allows them to move from concept to commercial-ready deployment.

This is where the NGIF Accelerator (Natural Gas Innovation Fund Accelerator) and its Emissions Testing Centre (ETC) Program come in. Established in 2021 and based in Alberta, the ETC program provides both laboratory and field facility host sites that companies can access to test and validate technologies that measure, monitor or reduce methane emissions. This creates immense value for smaller or start-up companies, by helping them obtain the running hours data in both laboratory and live field operations that they need to convince potential investors and clients.

The benefits spread beyond the companies as well, as the ETC program helps maintain Alberta as a hub for cleantech innovation and is part of the ecosystem that reduces GHG emissions.

Who is behind the ETC Program?

The ETC Program was developed as a collaborative initiative by industry, academia and government.

The program is managed by NGIF Accelerator, the not-for-profit arm of NGIF Capital, which was created by the Canadian Gas Association. Lab facilities hosted at the University of Calgary allow for simulated emissions testing in a controlled environment and  information sharing among researchers through a data platform. Live field trials are conducted at the West Wolf Lake Gas Plant, jointly owned by Tourmaline Oil Corp and Perpetual Energy, as well as at other Tourmaline sites. And finally, both Natural Resources Canada and PrairiesCan provided some funding support.

What technologies are being tested?

So far, 21 start-ups have completed technology testing at the ETC’s facilities and 20 more are currently conducting field or lab trials. Here’s some of what they have used the facilities for:

Technologies to detect and measure methane emissions
  • AltoMaxx used the ETC program to demonstrate and validate drone-based methane sensors that detect leak locations along pipelines, wellheads and natural gas facilities.
  • LSI tested the performance of a fixed-wing mounted thermal infrared hyperspectral imaging system to identify gas leaks under both winter and summer conditions.
  • Qube installed perimeter sensors at the ETC program field site gas plant and the venting-controlled release site to validate the company’s fixed sensor and continuous emissions monitoring technology.
  • Kuva conducted a field demonstration of emissions-detecting cameras that use short-wave infrared light to detect and monitor hydrocarbon gas emissions in real-time.
  • mCloud used the ETC lab to test its mobile ultrasonic sensor on variable emission rates and single vs. multiple source points, with and without the presence of external noise.
  • Spartan Controls used the ETC laboratory and field site facilities to test pre-commercial pressure control equipment that will monitor and minimize emissions from liquid storage tanks.
Technologies to manage or replace methane vented from pneumatic equipment
  • Kinitics Automation tested an electric valve actuator to replace methane-venting pneumatic actuators used at production well sites. System accuracy and performance were tested at the ETC lab, followed by a field program to evaluate system reliability and performance at different temperatures.
  • Marathon Compression used the field host site to test run-time and equipment durability of its KL8 compressor, which uses air to replace instrument gas venting.
  • Clear Rush Co investigated the efficiency of an enclosed vapour combustor technology to collect and combust the waste gas emitted by wellsite pneumatic devices.
  • Convrg Innovations demonstrated and validated equipment that uses compressed air rather than fuel gas to power pneumatic devices commonly used in upstream and remote well-site facilities.
Technologies to improve fuel and energy efficiency of drilling and fracking engines
  • Precision Drilling and Ensign Energy Services have both equipped drilling rigs with instrumentation to measure fuel and power use from different engine generation systems (diesel, bi-fuel, natural gas hybrid, and electric). Testing the different set-ups at the ETC field site allows the companies to compare efficiency and emissions from the different systems.
  • Trican field tested a frac pumper engine that replaces diesel with natural gas under different seasonal conditions.

What has the ETC accomplished so far?

Not all businesses/technologies that test at the ETC are a success. In fact, while researching this Brief we found several that subsequently went out of business. But that’s part of the innovation cycle; some things work, some don’t. And it also helps explain the value of the ETC Program. For those companies able to test, improve or demonstrate, the benefits can be substantial.

As noted by John Adams, NGIF Accelerator’s President and CEO, “I see the ETC program as an essential part of the validation process that future investors and customers require before making a decision. We have seen Vancouver based Kinitics Automation, a user of the ETC program, recently close a fund raise and seed round with prominent VC and angel investors and saw their customer base increase. We also saw Calgary based Qube Technologies, another user of the ETC program, recently close its Series B funding with industry investors and VC investment.  Investors in clean technology hard tech solutions for the energy sector require running hours data in both laboratory and live field operations. The ETC program is a pathway for that validation.”

In Western Canada and around the world, the energy sector is rapidly transforming to one that promises to be cleaner, greener and more efficient. Each month, the Canada West Foundation’s Energy Innovation Brief brings you stories about technology innovations happening across the industry – in oil and gas, renewables, energy storage and transmission.

The Energy Innovation Brief is compiled by Ryan Workman and Marla Orenstein. If you like what you see, subscribe to our mailing list and share with a friend. If you have any interesting stories for future editions, please send them to .