On December 16, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Julie Dabrusin, on behalf on the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Honourable Tim Hodgson, announced nearly $16 million in funding for investment in methane emissions reduction technologies across Canada.
The eight projects announced today will receive funding through the Energy Innovation Program’s Methane Measurement and Mitigation call for proposals launched in 2024 in support of Canada’s Methane Centre of Excellence. This call commits to investing in Canadian expertise to accelerate knowledge and technologies for methane measurement, reporting and mitigation.
In addition, further funding through the EIP will provide continued support to Carleton University’s development of measurement-based inventories of methane emissions in the upstream oil and gas sector, first announced in May 2024.
Energy Innovation Program
Project name: Scalable, Cost-Efficient Mesh Networks for Continuous Methane Monitoring and Leak Localization in Natural Gas Facilities
Recipient: Spero Analytics Inc.
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Funding amount: $290,000
Description: With this funding, and in-kind support from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Spero Analytics will collaborate with ECCC to build and deploy a real-time mesh network for methane monitoring that is economical at scale and can operate in off-grid facilities.
Project name: Standardization for Methane Emissions Detection, Quantification, Data Quality and Verification
Recipient: Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Funding amount: $600,000
Description: This project will establish standardized methods for methane measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) practices in Canada, thus supporting consistency in MRV practices in Canada and aligning with internationally accepted practices. The project will also provide the Canadian oil and gas sector with a consistent basis for supporting methane emission MRV.
Project name: MethaneNet: A National Program for Measurement, Reporting and Verification
Recipient: Carleton University
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Funding amount: $5,000,000
Description: The project consists of a national program, MethaneNet, which will link academia, industry, provincial and federal governments in the united objective of accelerating development and implementation of world-leading, national-scale measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) approaches to eliminate energy and waste sector methane emissions.
Project name: MEMS-Photoacoustic Drone-Mounted Methane Detection Platform
Recipient: NXTSENS Microsystems Inc.
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Funding amount: $2,613,204
Description: This project will develop a drone-based platform for detecting, quantifying and source-locating point-source methane emissions. This technology will increase the feasibility and decrease the costs associated with conducting more stringent leak detection and repair programs, facilitating reduction of methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas sector.
Project name: Aerial Detection and Quantification of Methane Emissions From Non-Producing Oil and Gas Wells and Surface Casing Vent Flows
Recipient: McGill University
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Funding amount: $825,010
Description: This project will develop and validate a multi-scale methane emission measurement method that better detects and quantifies low-emitting methane sources by integrating aerial sensing with ground-based techniques. This project will enable more accurate measurement of methane emissions, supporting Canada’s efforts to reduce emissions and meet its climate targets. The data collected will support regulations and policies in the oil and gas sector.
Project name: Advancing Methane Emissions Management: An Open-Standard, Multi-Sensor Monitoring, Measurement, Reporting and Verification Platform for Enhanced Measurement-Informed Inventory
Recipient: SensorUp Inc.
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Funding amount: $3,000,000
Description: This project will deploy a large-scale, multi-sensor Measurement, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MMRV) solution that leverages open-standard platforms and artificial intelligence (AI). It will improve energy export competitiveness through lower emissions, stimulate economic growth and high-quality employment in Canada’s clean tech and AI sector and strengthen Canada’s reputation as a global leader in climate innovation.
Project name: Development and Demonstration of a High-Sensitivity, Low-Cost Continuous Methane Monitoring Camera
Recipient: Kuva Canada Inc.
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Funding amount: $952,500
Description: This project aims to develop a continuous methane monitoring camera with improved performance and lower cost compared to similar commercially available technologies. The project will advance methane reduction in the oil and gas industry by improving detection accuracy and improving timely reporting of emissions data.
Project name: Prototyping and Technology Demonstration of a Methane Sensor for Widespread Application
Recipient: The University of British Columbia
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Funding amount: $1,612,500
Description: The project will develop a sensor that uses arrays of sensing and reference nodes for real-time methane measurement. The approach integrates emerging technological innovations, which will result in an energy-efficient, inexpensive sensor with the potential to significantly advance the current methane sensing benchmarks.
Project name: A National-Scale, Measurement-Based Upstream Oil and Gas Methane Census
Recipient: Carleton University
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Funding amount: $925,750
Description: This additional funding will expand the scope of the project to support completing aerial surveys along major natural gas pipelines in British Columbia in order to directly measure methane emissions associated with the midstream liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply chain.