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Government of Canada Announces Support for Ekona Power Inc.’s Clean Hydrogen Development

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BURNABY, BC, July 9, 2024 /CNW/ –  As nations globally move to reduce carbon emissions and shift to non-emitting forms of energy, investing in clean technologies will help ensure Canada remains a global energy leader. Ultra-low carbon sources of energy such as wind, solar, hydro and nuclear power are key to seizing the enormous economic opportunities that are available to Canadians in all regions of the country.

Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced a new investment of $1 million from the Energy Innovation Program’s Clean Fuels and Industrial Fuel Switching initiative to Ekona Power Inc. This funding will support Ekona in advancing its methane pyrolysis solution for clean hydrogen production from natural gas. Building on the success of a prior program to develop and test Ekona’s xCaliber™ reactor, which was previously supported by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) through its Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada Program, this project will support further development of the reactor and expand Ekona’s Burnaby test facility.

Ekona’s solution converts natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions when compared with other conventional processes used to produce hydrogen. Ekona’s unique pyrolysis reactor uses the principles of combustion and high-speed gas dynamics to dissociate feedstock methane. It is low-cost, scalable and easy to integrate, and it leverages existing natural gas infrastructure to deliver a practical solution that meets the growing demand for clean hydrogen and the needs of Canadian industry.

Ekona’s novel solution has the potential to produce low-cost clean hydrogen while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent. More broadly, it could enable cost-effective, ultra-low-carbon hydrogen gas production from natural gas within the need to capture and sequester carbon dioxide. This project will also help Ekona build and test its pilot plant, validate performance against commercial targets and explore how this technology can be utilized in British Columbia for decarbonizing the natural gas network.

While we continue to foster economic growth and build Canada’s clean economy, significant investments — such as the one announced today — are being made to accelerate the production, distribution and use of clean fuels, including clean hydrogen. These advancements are guided by Canada’s Hydrogen Strategy, which introduced a framework in 2020 to help position Canada as a global supplier and producer of clean hydrogen on our path to net zero by 2050.

Quotes

Canada is taking important steps to keep being a clean energy supplier of choice as we drive progress toward a net-zero world. Investing in innovations such as Ekona’s provides opportunities to advance Canada’s hydrogen value chain, create jobs and seize the economic opportunity of growing global demand for hydrogen.”

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

“Ekona is a key player in the clean technology ecosystem within B.C. and Burnaby. Local leaders like Ekona are helping to drive us toward a sustainable economy and supporting our net-zero emission goals. We look forward to the continued partnership.”

The Honourable Terry Beech
Minister of Citizens’ Services
Member of Parliament for Burnaby North–Seymour

Canada’s natural gas resources and infrastructure are critical for meeting tomorrow’s net-zero targets. Ekona’s methane pyrolysis platform unlocks natural gas’s potential for clean hydrogen production without the need for carbon-dioxide sequestration. This made-in-Canada technology offers a viable and near-term solution for using hydrocarbons in cleaner, better ways. NRCan has been an active supporter of Ekona and our technology vision since 2020, and we are grateful for its support.”

Chris Reid
CEO, Ekona Power Inc.

Quick Facts

Ekona’s clean hydrogen production plants operate without the need for water, or carbon-dioxide sequestration and use a minimal amount of electricity including renewable sources. These features allow the solution to be placed anywhere on the natural gas network and to leverage existing infrastructure.Ekona’s pulsed methane pyrolysis (PMP) reactor is integrated with industry-standard equipment for carbon separation and hydrogen purification to deliver a low-cost system. It is also catalyst-free, minimizing electricity consumption and mitigating carbon fouling.Ekona will deploy its first field unit next year. Ekona Gold Creek is a 1-tonne-per-day (1TPD) Customer Demonstration Plant. It will be deployed at Arc Resources’ Gold Creek gas plant to demonstrate how methane pyrolysis technology can decarbonize upstream oil and gas operations. The plant will be built, commissioned and tested in 2025 for operations in 2026.NRCan’s Energy Innovation Program advances clean energy technologies that will help Canada meet its climate change targets while supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy. It funds research, development and demonstration projects, and other related scientific activities.Interest in low-carbon hydrogen in Canada has increased significantly since 2020, with over 80 low-carbon hydrogen production projects announced, representing over five million tonnes of hydrogen production capacity and an economic expression of interest of over $100 billion in potential investment in domestic clean energy opportunities and jobs.Since 2020, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have published hydrogen strategies, identifying hydrogen as a provincial clean energy priority and describing provincial actions and objectives to realize regional low-carbon hydrogen objectives.Hydrogen has been identified as a key opportunity area under the British Columbia Regional Energy and Resource Table and features prominently in the recently released British Columbia Regional Energy and Resource Table – Framework for Collaboration on the Path to Net-Zero. The Regional Energy and Resource Tables are joint partnerships between the federal government and individual provincial and territorial governments in collaboration with Indigenous partners — and with input from key stakeholders — to identify and accelerate shared economic priorities for a low-carbon future in the energy and resource sectors.There are now 13 low-carbon hydrogen production facilities in operation across Canada, able to produce over 3,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen per year.

Related Information

Hydrogen Strategy for Canada and Progress Report 
2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy 
Net-zero emissions by 2050
Budget 2024 – Attracting Investment for a Net-Zero Economy
Backgrounder: Economic Growth and Productivity
Clean Hydrogen Investment Tax Credit 
Energy Innovation Program 
Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada

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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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Clock Ticking on San Jose Worker Contracts as City Council Eyes July Recess

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SAN JOSE, Calif., June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Several months of tense negotiations between the San Jose City Administration and thousands of dedicated City of San Jose workers have now resulted in two of the City’s largest worker contracts set to expire – just as the San Jose City Council leaves for their July recess. On Thursday, June 18, after receiving the City’s Last, Best, and Final Offer (LBFO) and working to reach a deal before contract expiration, San Jose workers represented by IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local 101 have called for mediation in order to reach a fair agreement.

Last Wednesday, June 10, workers rallied at San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) to call on the San Jose City Administration to secure a contract that will allow the City of San Jose to retain and recruit excellent public workers. While negotiations continued after the rally, the City’s LBFO remains one that does not invest in city services and one that will not retain the city’s skilled workforce.

Members of both unions are concerned that the upcoming budget has proposed staffing cuts to several departments, including the Library, Public Works, and the Housing Department. Instead of investing in our community, city officials have elected to spend taxpayer money on corporate giveaways through massive contracts with ineffective AI companies and an outrageous $351 million subsidy towards hockey arena renovations. The City could develop a strategy that ensures corporations pay their fair share from benefitting directly from city services. Instead, San Jose insists on cutting taxes for some of the largest corporations that occupy the city, while residents and working families pay more.

“We are the workers who keep San Jose running every day. We’ve shown up at the bargaining table ready to negotiate a fair contract every week. It’s time for the City to turn things around in order to retain workers. San Jose workers and the residents we serve deserve better,” said Carlos Murillo, an Associate Engineer at SJC, and IFPTE Local 21 Bargaining Team Member. “It’s time to invest in our city services. It’s time to put San Jose first.”

“San Jose remains already one of the most thinly staffed major cities in California. The City has a real opportunity. With San Jose being a World Cup host city, we have seen our community come together. San Jose has the potential to highlight the amazing public services our city has to offer and the hard-working people who make those services happen,” said MEF Local 101 Chief Steward Heidi Mendiola, a Police Data Specialist.

San Jose workers haven’t gone on strike in two decades. Three years ago, San Jose workers organized a city-wide strike vote that shed light on the city’s dangerous understaffing and retention issues. Workers are disheartened to know that instead of working on revenue, this administration has instead continued to remain one of the few cities to cap its business license tax on large businesses, with its largest only paying $185,532 in taxes. This includes massive Fortune 500 companies, such as Cisco Systems, which reported $56 billion in revenue and $10 billion in profits for Fiscal Year 2025; PayPal Holdings, which reported $33 billion in revenue and $5.2 billion in profits; and Adobe Inc., which reported $23 billion in revenue and $7.1 billion in profits.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clock-ticking-on-san-jose-worker-contracts-as-city-council-eyes-july-recess-302805005.html

SOURCE IFPTE Local 21

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Trupeer AI Appoints Former UiPath APAC President & CEO Raghu Subramanian to Lead Japan Enterprise Expansion

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TOKYO, June 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Trupeer AI, the workflow knowledge layer for teams and AI agents, today announced the appointment of Raghu Subramanian as President and Chief Business Officer, as the company accelerates its next phase of global enterprise expansion. Backed by RTP Global and Salesforce Ventures and trusted by more than 50,000 teams in over 100 countries and 120 languages, Trupeer is strengthening its leadership team to scale adoption across enterprises, SaaS companies, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), and technology-enabled business services companies.

Japan is a strategic growth market for Trupeer, where enterprises face a growing knowledge-retention challenge as experienced employees retire and institutional expertise leaves with them. Trupeer addresses this by capturing workflows and institutional knowledge and turning them into AI-ready contexts accessible in more than 120 languages, including Japanese and English. By eliminating the bilingual bottleneck, the platform lets Japanese enterprises scale their own expertise to global teams, while giving multinational organizations instant access to existing knowledge for their Japan-based teams. Several of the world’s largest software companies use Trupeer to create Japanese-language content as they deepen their presence in the country, and  major Japanese pharmaceutical companies use Trupeer to enable learning and development at scale, capturing veteran expertise and standardizing how critical processes are taught across the organization.

Raghu joins from a distinguished career at the forefront of enterprise automation. As a founding member of the management team at UiPath, he was part of the core executive team that helped build the company into a $35+ billion NYSE-listed enterprise. He established UiPath’s APAC operations in 2016 and later served as President & CEO for India and APAC, making Japan one of their largest markets. Bringing over 25 years of enterprise technology leadership, Raghu has built and scaled enterprise businesses across global markets, with deep expertise in automation, business process management, and enterprise AI adoption. Prior to joining UiPath, he served as CTO of EXL Service.

At Trupeer, he will lead the company’s next phase of commercial expansion, with a sharp focus on Japanese enterprises, the GCCs operating in Japan, and the global parents of Japan-based delivery networks.

Shivali Goyal, CEO and Co-Founder, Trupeer AI, said, “Raghu has spent decades helping organisations adopt and scale transformative technologies and brings deep experience in building enterprises globally. Having seen first-hand the challenges enterprises face in organisational knowledge and agentic AI enablement, Raghu immediately resonated with our vision and the momentum Trupeer has built globally. His expertise will help us strengthen our commercial capabilities, deepen partnerships, and unlock the next phase of growth at Trupeer.”

Raghu Subramanian, President and Chief Business Officer, Trupeer AI, said, “Enterprises have long struggled to get real value from AI, and the reason is fragmented context. As businesses operate across languages, geographies, and distributed teams, critical knowledge often becomes difficult to access, share, and act on consistently. The knowledge that makes AI useful remains trapped in people’s heads and scattered across tools. In the agentic AI era, where agents are only as good as the context they run on, that gap becomes the difference between AI that works and AI that doesn’t. This is the gap Trupeer was built to close. I look forward to partnering with enterprises and organisations across the globe to build the context layer that makes enterprise knowledge structured, accessible, and actionable, and AI genuinely useful.”

About Trupeer

Trupeer AI is the workflow knowledge layer for enterprises that enables teams and AI agents. The company helps organizations capture critical operational knowledge that is often trapped in the minds of subject matter experts and scattered across tools, transforming it into structured, accessible, and queryable knowledge. Its platform captures enterprise workflows and turns unstructured, multimodal input into SOPs, guides, studio-quality videos, training assets into 120+ languages and continuously updated, AI-ready context that intelligent agents can leverage, making institutional knowledge accessible, actionable, and queryable. Backed by RTP Global and Salesforce Ventures, Trupeer supports more than 50,000 teams in over 100 countries, including Fortune 100 enterprises, Global Capability Centers and technology-enabled business services companies.

Further details: https://www.trupeer.ai/ 

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Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2997203/6007441/Trupeer_Logo.jpg

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/trupeer-ai-appoints-former-uipath-apac-president–ceo-raghu-subramanian-to-lead-japan-enterprise-expansion-302804741.html

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Fulfilling PM Modi’s Dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat: India’s AI Writing Startup Kreativespace Incubated at IIT Kharagpur

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Kreativespace, an Indian AI-powered writing platform founded by Vinet Kakadea, has been incubated at IIT Kharagpur and recognized by SVNIT University, Ministry of Education under Bodhan AI Conclave also through the NVIDIA Inception Program, AWS Startup Program, and DPIIT under Startup India.The platform unifies 8 AI-powered writing tools, along with AI Humanizer and Message AI feature being the latest addition into a single ecosystem, so you can generate and refine content all in one place.The company reports more than 50,000+ signed-up users, 75,000+ anonymous users, and roughly 100,000 monthly website visitors, positioning itself as the only Indian company operating at scale in the global AI writing market.

SURAT, India, June 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Kreativespace, an AI-powered writing platform, is building out its position as the only homegrown alternative in a market long dominated by international tools such as Grammarly and QuillBot. Founded by Vinet Kakadea and incubated at IIT Kharagpur, the company has aligned its growth with the broader push behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) initiative, which encourages indigenous technology development capable of competing on a global scale.

As AI adoption accelerates across India’s education, research, and enterprise sectors, Kreativespace is among a small group of Indian startups building writing technology designed to compete directly with established international platforms.

Kreativespace’s progress has been recognized by several institutions central to India’s startup and technology ecosystem. The company has been incubated at IIT Kharagpur, selected under SSIP 2.0 through SVNIT University, and chosen by the Ministry of Education to present its work at the Bodhan AI Conclave. It has also been accepted into the NVIDIA Inception Program and the AWS Startup Program, and holds DPIIT recognition under the Startup India initiative.

Where many writing-tool users rely on separate subscriptions for content generation to refinement for grammar correction, paraphrasing, plagiarism checking, citation generation, and editing, Kreativespace brings these functions into a single platform as a super-app for AI writing tools. The company says its approach centers on affordability and accessibility alongside performance, aiming to make advanced AI writing assistance available to a wider range of users regardless of geography or budget.

The idea for Kreativespace took shape while founder Vinet Kakadea was studying at New York University and Marymount University in the United States, where he experienced firsthand how students, researchers, and professionals often need multiple paid subscriptions to cover writing-related tasks. That fragmented experience led him to build a super-app offering each of these capabilities together, at a more accessible price point.

Kreativespace combines 8 AI-powered writing tools with AI Humanizer and Message AI feature being the latest addition, allowing users to generate, rewrite, refine, and humanize content without moving between separate platforms. The product is available via web platform, mobile apps on the App Store and Google Play, browser extensions for Chrome, Mozilla, and Edge, and a Google Docs add-on.

Vinet Kakadea, Founder of Kreativespace, said, “Kreativespace’s vision is to digitalize the entire Indian education ecosystem to support PM Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme.”

About Kreativespace

Kreativespace with the Motto of Making Writing Accessible for Everyone: Kreativespace is an AI-powered writing platform built to make AI writing tools accessible, affordable, and effective for students, researchers, educators, professionals, content creators, startups, and enterprises. Founded by Vinet Kakadea, the company is incubated at IIT Kharagpur and has been recognized by AWS Startup Program, the NVIDIA Inception Program, and DPIIT under Startup India. For more information, visit kreativespace.com.

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