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Looking for locally-made carbon emission reduction technology for diesel-fuelled big rigs, mining equipment, and more?
That’s a big 10-4, says dynaCERT’s CEO and President Jim Payne, whose Toronto-based company has spent $70 million during the last 16 years developing their patented HYDRAgen device that cuts down on emissions by more than 50%, reduces nitrous oxide, the most deadly gas, by 88%, and reduces fuel consumption by nearly 10%.
It only came on the market two years ago right before COVID-19 hit and works by producing hydrogen and oxygen which are added to a diesel engine’s airflow, resulting in better combustion.
“Right now we have several large companies using it across Canada and across North America,” said Payne. “We’ve got them in Europe. We’re a global company.”
But Payne says B.C. is currently the only provincial government in Canada that is offering a $4,000 incentive to help truckers and fleet owners to install HYDRAgen, covering half the $8,000 cost.
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“Now we are in talks with Ontario,” he said. “The talks are very positive. We’re in talks with MTO (the Ministry of Transportation). We’re in talks with the federal government. But until something is done, talk is cheap. We have several municipalities that we’ve been doing pilot projects with.”
Payne said the suitcase-sized HYDRAgen device, made at dynaCERT’s Toronto headquarters on Alliance Ave. in the Stockyards district, is sold through a network of dealers globally, and it usually takes about three hours to install as a retrofit.
“Certainly because of COVID it’s been difficult because of so many restrictions,” he said. “It has really hampered things for the last year.”
Payne said the transportation sector generates roughly 24% of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and the U.S. and there are up to one billion diesel engines operating around the world.
He says one HYDRAgen unit on a truck and trailer would save 4,800 litres of diesel annually, reducing GHG emissions by 100 tonnes, the equivalent of removing 28 Honda Civic sedans from the road.