The pan-Canadian Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN) has committed about $86 million of $100 million in funding from the federal Strategic Innovation Fund to support dozens of technology projects in the oil and gas industry.

To date, CRIN has supported a total of 66 projects: 41 later-stage projects (TRL 6-9) and 25 earlier-stage projects (TRL 3-5), Glen McCrimmon (photo at left), CRIN’s director of operations, said in an email to Research Money.

“Collectively, CRIN-supported projects have contributed to accelerating the development and deployment of cleaner technologies across the oil and gas sector,” he said.

Approximately $79 million of the $86 million for projects has been fully committed, with remaining funds allocated to CRIN’s current technology competition, McCrimmon said.

CRIN has also spent about $14 million of the federal funding on administration, network development and ecosystem-building activities.

In March 2025, CRIN received a $10-millon, 18-month extension from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund.

This funding, which extends CRIN’s operations through to September 2027, supported the launch of CRIN’s new $12-million technology competition - across all seven of CRIN's technology focus areas - launched this year, McCrimmon said.

CRIN previously held three competitions in reducing environmental footprint; low-emission fuels and products; and digital oil and gas.

CRIN’s mission is to enable development, commercialization and adoption of innovative cleaner technology solutions in oil and gas that are applied across Canadian industries and globally reduce emissions. CRIN aims to accelerates technology commercialization and deployment.

CRIN supports projects across seven technology themes:

• Carbon capture and value-added products.
• Cleaner fuels – reducing carbon intensity.
• Digital oil and gas technology.
• Methane monitoring, quantification and abatement.
• Novel hydrocarbon extraction.
• Novel land and wellsite reclamation.
• Water technology development.

In terms of project status, CRIN said it currently has:

• 19 active projects.
• 23 of 25 early-stage projects completed.
• 24 of 41 late-stage projects completed. 

CRIN utilizes a digital platform for initial technology screening for adopters and funders and pair technology developers from small and medium-sized businesses with oil and gas producer partners, to increase market pull for technologies.

CRIN’s Oil and Gas Innovation Ecosystem Dashboard is an interactive tool designed to provide a comprehensive view of the oil and gas industry’s innovation landscape in Canada.

The dashboard is aimed at facilitating collaboration, investment and decision-making by offering insights into ongoing projects, technology adoption, potential funding sources, support services available, and other resources.

Some of the key features of the dashboard-linked stakeholder landscape map include:

• A visual representation of the various players in the oil and gas innovation ecosystem. This includes companies, research institutions, government bodies and funding organizations that are driving change in the sector.
• A showcase of the innovation landscape.
• The dashboard is interactive, allowing users to drill down into specific areas of interest, such as regions and company sizes. This flexibility makes it a valuable tool for decision-makers, researchers and entrepreneurs who want to analyze specific aspects of the ecosystem, CRIN said.

The network also leverages existing collaboration platforms to enable “one-stop-shop” capabilities. CRIN also identifies and shares opportunities to attract and retain energy talent.

CRIN also hosts events such as “Project Café” and other technology showcases, supports young professionals to attend these events and provides young innovators the opportunity to attend the events.

CRIN also provides scholarships for young professionals in the “Avatar Program,” a venture platform purpose-built for the energy industry, to amplify their participation journey.

The Avatar Program includes “Avatar Ignite,” a 14-week launchpad for mid-career energy professionals that includes hands-on AI and teamwork; energy economics; geopolitics; finance; and how to use AI as an enabler; “executive-grade” outcomes, including presenting to a Shark Tank-style panel of senior leaders who can find, deploy or sponsor what the innovators build.

McCrimmon said projects supported by CRIN are selected through open, competitive funding calls coordinated by an independent third-party competition administrator.

Selection criteria are defined in advance and include technical merit, environmental impact, relevance to industry-identified needs, scalability, and the strength of industry partnerships, he said.

Proposals undergo a structured review process involving independent technical experts, with conflict-of-interest and fairness procedures in place, McCrimmon noted.

Final funding recommendations are made based on reviewer assessments and alignment with program objectives, he said.

CRIN requires funded projects to report regularly on technical progress, expenditures and performance metrics throughout the project lifecycle, McCrimmon said.

Reporting requirements are aligned with CRIN’s federal funding agreement and include indicators related to emissions reductions and other environmental benefits as well as economic benefits, such as job creation.

Examples of CRIN-supported projects and outcomes

“CRIN has supported multiple projects that have advanced technologies deployed in operational environments, enabling operators to better measure emissions, reduce environmental footprint, and improve regulatory compliance,” McCrimmon said.

Examples of CRIN-supported projects include:

• Pilot deployment of Burnaby, B.C.-based Ekona Power’s PMP solution for clean hydrogen production project.

Ekona’s innovative Pulsed Methane Pyrolysis (PMP) technology transforms natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon while reducing carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional steam methane-reforming processes.

Using principles of combustion and high-speed gas dynamics, the pyrolysis reactor efficiently dissociates methane feedstock.

This low-cost, scalable solution addresses carbon fouling issues inherent in other pyrolysis platforms and integrates seamlessly with industry-standard balance of plant equipment for hydrogen purification and carbon separation – simplifying industrial adoption.

As part of this CRIN-supported project, Ekona successfully scaled its PMP reactor and brass-board system at its Burnaby, B.C. facility, advancing from TRL 6 readiness (successful demonstration of a fully functional prototype in a simulated or relevant environment) to TRL  (testing of a near-production prototype to prove its functional capabilities before final, market-ready deployment).

• Calgary-based Kuva Canada’s “Machine learning for false positive elimination in continuous methane monitoring with low-cost IR (infrared) cameras” project.

The scope of the project, which has been completed, was to enhance the capability of the Kuva false-positive screening solution. The objective was to improve the cost effectiveness of the monitoring service by demonstrating a machine-learning model that eliminates false-positive detections.

Goals were to establish and maintain a cloud-based machine learning environment, to train and refine a cloud-based machine learning model, to migrate the developed model into the production cloud, and to score performance against the current false-positive screening process.

• Metro Vancouver-based Etalim’s “Gas Wellhead Remote Power Unit Project.”

The first of two CRIN-funded Etalim projects completed successful field pilots conducted at two independent producer sites, where a five-well and a nine-well pad were powered by Etalim’s 1GEN thermo-acoustic technology for over 5,675 hours during extreme temperatures, ranging from -35°C to +33°C. Thermo-acoustic technology is a type of engine that lacks traditional moving parts, such as pistons or bearings, resulting in high reliability and low maintenance.

Through the two field pilots, Etalim provided producers with continuous remote insights, including uptime, power consumption, and fuel usage, to help them optimize future wellsite operations and system design.

These field pilots demonstrated the efficacy of Etalim’s thermo-acoustic technology as a climate solution to power pneumatic devices at well sites and optimize production efficiency without giving up reliability or contributing to methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.

• Calgary-based GERI’s (General Energy Recovery Inc.) “Co-Injecting Steam & Combustion Exhaust Gases to Recover More Oil and Reduce GHG Emissions” project.

The biggest challenge in enhanced heavy oil recovery is getting the oil to flow in the reservoir because of its high viscosity.

DCSG (Direct Contact Steam Generator) technology is designed to improve heavy oil recovery by combining multiple, proven enhanced oil recovery mechanisms that address both the properties of the oil and of the reservoir.

GERI’s DCSG is a low-emissions technology that combusts pressurized air and fuel in direct contact with water, resulting in a single product stream of steam (or hot water) mixed with combustion flue gases.

Rather than venting the flue gas (carbon dioxide and nitrogen) to the atmosphere, these products of combustion are simultaneously injected with steam into a well, addressing the two fundamental needs of depleted heavy oil reservoirs: heat and pressure.

GERI’s technology increases oil production while reducing emissions and freshwater use relative to competing processes.

The GERI DCSG has been previously piloted in selected reservoirs; however this project was an opportunity to demonstrate GERI at a remote field site with limited access to utilities such as freshwater and also with injection into carbonate reservoirs to showcase its wider potential and applicability in Alberta.

• Calgary-based OptiSeis Solutions’ “EcoSeis Phase 2” project.

During a CRIN Project Cafe update on their EcoSeis technology, OptiSeis noted the problem they set out to solve through their CRIN-supported project was seismic cut lines.

To drill wells, an image of the subsurface is required. If the well sites are in a remote, treed area, lines must be cut to safely deploy the equipment.

As part of its integrated solution, EcoSeis, OptiSeis looked at making the cut lines narrower and miniaturizing equipment and enhancing the miniature sources.

CRIN was instrumental in 2022 in helping OptiSeis go to the field and verify that with these new designs, subsurface resolution could be maintained.

The project has resulted in a 45-percent to 55-percent footprint reduction, depending on how the technology was deployed. The project resulted in direct collaboration with 30 companies and indirect benefits to another dozen companies through the project.

• Calgary-based Scovan’s HipVap’s “IFSG Commercial Pilot Demonstration” project.

A CRIN- and Alberta Innovates-supported Scovan project demonstrated that untreated, produced water can economically be used directly in steam generation with minimal treatment, significantly reducing water treatment costs, freshwater consumption and waste disposal needs. The HipVap Integrated Fired Steam Generation (IFSG) Commercial Pilot Demonstration achieved reductions in carbon dioxide emissions relative to alternative technologies, proving a cost-effective alternative for smaller-scale steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) oilsands operations.

Launched in January 2021, the project set out to accelerate HipVap’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL) from 6 to 8 by demonstrating its performance in a live SAGD environment. The HipVap unit was installed and operated at a SAGD facility near Bonnyville, Alta.

The collaborative project resulted in the creation of five new partnerships, including three industry partners.

Notably, during the execution of this project, Scovan scaled its operations and grew from a team of nine employees in 2021 to 189 employees by the end of 2024, of which the CRIN- and Alberta Innovates-supported pilot project accounted for 52 full-time equivalent positions.

Scovan estimates this technology will lead to the creation of nearly 2,800 new full-time jobs by 2033.

McCrimmon said these and dozens of other CRIN-supported project “have helped de-risk emerging technologies, improve emissions measurement and reduction, enhance operational efficiency, and strengthen collaboration between technology developers and industry operators, including the reduction of “First of a Kind” risk – a key barrier to technology adoption.

“This work supports Canada’s broader objective of making its energy sector more environmentally responsible while maintaining competitiveness,” McCrimmon said.

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