Pipeline panacea amongst eco-ideas at Canadian tech showcase

A device designed to seek leaks and cracks in pipes and other structures was one of the environmental technologies on display at the Canada House in London this week.


The event was the third organised by the Canadian High Commission and green PR firm Carbon International and aimed to promote three successful companies looking to increase their presence in Europe.

“A lot of environmental technologies come out of trying to increase resource efficiency in the mineral extraction and hydrocarbon industries,” a spokesman for Carbon International told edie.

“Canada is a huge country rich in natural resources and that has led to it becoming a leader in resource-efficient technologies. London is the hub of environmental investment so it makes sense for them to seek to do business here.”

Guy St Jacques, Canada’s Deputy High Commissioner, said: “we used to be known by the four ‘Ms’; Mounties, moose, mountains and maple syrup.

“But there is a side of Canada others don’t know.”

Smartcool was showcasing an energy saving device designed to cut the electricity consumption of refrigeration and air conditioning units.

The retro-fittable devices have already been adopted by a number of big name clients such as Tesco, Shell and Vodafone.

Polaris, was selling carbon credits accredited under the Clean Development Mechanism.

The credits have been earned by geothermal credits in Nicaragua, a country with an abundance of geologically suitale sites.

Pure Technologies was promoting equipment to scan for cracks on structures from bridges to pipes.

Jack Elliott, chief operating officer, told edie that Europe was fertile ground for his company.

“The UK and Europe have ageing infrastructure and it’s more environmentally conscious as a society so we see a lot of opportunities for us to deploy our technology,” he said.

“Also from a commercial perspective it’s a good business climate and an area we’re comfortable doing business in.”

The technology is already installed at a number of key sites in the UK and Europe, including the Forth road bridge.

Wants to move into pipelines, focusing on water and wastewater systems. The problems of the water companies losing huge amounts of water due to leaking pipes have been widely reported so it would seem that Pure has a market but Mr Elliott acknowledged that success would depend on whether the savings which could be made would outweigh the cost of installing the technology.

Sam Bond

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