Canada, Vancouver

Green technology now has the potential to be a game-changing industry for Canada, according to John Ruffolo, National Leader, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group, Deloitte. “The Deloitte Technology Green 15 Award recognizes those Canadian companies that offer solutions to global environmental challenges by creating intellectual property and technology that reduce society’s environmental impact,” he said. Two receivers of the award this year are QuestAir Technologies Inc. and Westport Innovations Inc.

QuestAir's gas purification technology uses a proprietary process to recover renewable natural gas from biogas, an energy source generated from organic wastes at facilities such as landfills, farms and sewage treatment plants. In the transportation sector, purified biogas is one of the few sources of renewable compressed natural gas fuel for clean-burning transit buses and trucks.

“We are very pleased to receive the Deloitte Technology Green 15 Award for the second consecutive year,” said Andrew Hall, President and CEO of QuestAir. “Our biogas purification technology is helping companies in sectors such as transportation, energy and utilities go green.”

Westport Innovations Inc., developer and supplier of heavy-duty natural gas engine technology, was not only included in the Green 15 Awards but also received a prestigious Leadership Award, one of four separate awards categories that make up the 2008 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards Program, Canada's pre-eminent technology awards program.

David Demers, CEO of Westport Innovations, said, "With the support and encouragement of our customers, partners, and policy makers over the past decade, alternative fuel vehicles incorporating our engines and technologies are no longer just an environmental dream, but are now seen as a critical part of our global economic future. We are proud to be recognized today as one of Canada's leading technology companies."

Westport's solutions allow engines to operate on clean-burning fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, and biofuels such as landfill gas.