Photo courtesy Derek Oliver, CP

Brian Mergelas (centre), CEO of the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC), shows Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt (left) and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) CEO Vicky Sharpe (right) around the company's facility. In addition to funding 16 new technologies, SDTC is granting an additional $800,000 to this existing water pipeline inspection technology project.

A solar canopy solution illumination system and a nanotechnology platform for agricultural chemicals are among the emerging 'clean' technologies awarded funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). The federal government approved $53 million for 16 technologies intended to offer economic growth and address climate change. The projects include:
• a multi-module biocarbon production facility that will convert 110,000 tonnes of green wood residues annually into 25,000 tonnes of biocarbon, led by Alterna Energy (Prince George, B.C.);
• an organic pellet injection system that loosens soil compacted by activities associated with oil well drilling, enabling faster land reclamation, led by Paragon Soil and Environmental Consulting (Edmonton);
• a scalable, self-organizing wireless energy control technology that simplifies building control systems, led by REGEN Energy (Toronto);
• a thermal storage device that integrates a highly efficient solar energy storage material with high-performance fenestration, which improves natural lighting inside a building and redistributes stored heat when interior temperatures drop, led by TROPE DesignResearch (Halifax); and
• an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) cartridge that involves a low-cost, high-performance polymer membrane used to recover sensible (heat) and latent (moisture) energy in residential and small commercial units, led by dPoint Technologies (Vancouver).

In addition to awarding these 16 projects, SDTC has granted up to $800,000 in extra funding to the existing Pipe Diver project, a water pipeline inspection technology led by the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC) of Mississauga, Ont.

This technology can help municipalities avoid potentially catastrophic infrastructure failures—it involves a device that inspects pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) used by municipalities to carry water to consumers, and enables identification of stressed sections of pipe before a disastrous failure occurs.

SDTC had already committed $400,000 to this project in June 2006.