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Natural Gas
A newly opened Tourmaline and Clean Energy CNG station in Calgary. (Photo: Supplied)
Growth for Gas
Tourmaline, Clean Energy expand CNG
fueling network in Western Canada
By Krystyna Shchedrina
Tourmaline and Clean Energy are
expanding their compressed natural gas
(CNG) fueling network across Western
Canada, with two new stations opening
in Calgary and Grande Prairie, Alta.
These stations mark their next step in
building the first CNG corridor for truck-
ing companies in Canada, enabling the
displacement of diesel fuel.
The latest additions join an existing
station in Edmonton, which opened in
April 2023. The stations are all equipped
with the capacity to support more than
300 trucks daily. Construction on the
next CNG fueling station is set to begin in
Kamloops, B.C., with Fort McMurray and
Fort St. John to follow.
“We are expanding our multi-year
diesel displacement initiative by making
CNG more readily available to heavy-duty
trucking companies,” said Michael Rose,
president and chief executive officer at
Tourmaline, in a news release. “Right
here in Alberta, we have the technology,
an abundance of natural gas, and now
the infrastructure to help facilitate a
transformative shift in the transportation
sector.”
“The development of this critical
infrastructure is perfectly timed as the
important new X15N natural gas engine
from Cummins is being introduced to
the trucking industry to rave reviews.
We expect that the combination of more
fueling locations and the new engine
technology, which is perfectly suited for
the Canadian market, will pave the way
for continued growth of CNG,” added
Andrew Littlefair, president and chief
executive officer at Clean Energy.
Tourmaline and Clean Energy’s part-
nership – the $70 million joint develop-
ment agreement and their commitment
to build up to 20 CNG fueling stations
across Western Canada in the next five
years – was announced last year.
Since then, it has attracted nine major
companies, including fleets and dealers,
including GreatWest Kenworth, Mullen
Trucking, Martin Brower, and GFL
Environmental. The nine companies have
since last April collectively displaced
2 million liters of diesel by converting
their fleets to CNG technology, according
to Tourmaline and Clean Energy’s joint
release.
“Using the baseline carbon intensity
values for diesel and CNG as outlined
in the federal Clean Fuel Regulation, we
avoided approximately 1,604 tonnes of
emissions to date. That’s the equivalent
of planting 26,735 urban tree seedlings
grown for 10 years, or taking 348 pas-
senger vehicles off the road per year,”
explained Cody Brookwell, Clean Energy
Canada’s director of sales and business
development, adding that CNG also pro-
vides about 50% cost savings compared
to diesel.
Natural gas has long been recognized
as a cleaner alternative to gasoline and
diesel, and its use by cities and large cor-
porations has grown as they seek to meet
sustainability goals. In addition, the same
infrastructure installed for CNG now, can
be used in the future for developing and
supporting renewable natural gas (RNG)
when it becomes more readily available
in Canada.
“When you consider where we are on
the adoption curve and the impact this
technology will have over the next three
to five years, it’s exciting,” Brookwell
said. “The infrastructure and demand we
establish today will support the devel-
opment and adoption of RNG in the
future.” TT
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