Ottawa gives Atlantic Hydrogen $1.1M grant

By Shawn Berry – Telegraph Journal | link to original article

FREDERICTON – After eight years of perfecting its work, Atlantic Hydrogen Inc. is preparing to make its first sale.

Boosted by a $1.1-million federal grant announced Monday, the Fredericton company expects to commercialize its technology soon.

« We will be taking the CarbonSaver technology to the worldwide marketplace later this year, » said David Wagner, president and CEO of Atlantic Hydrogen.

« It's exciting. This is where we get to demonstrate and customers get to show their appreciation of the value by paying real money. »

Atlantic Hydrogen has invested more than $25 million into research over the last eight years. Their plasma-based technology, now in the demonstration stage, transforms natural gas into hydrogen-enriched gas.

The CarbonSaver runs an electrical charge through the natural gas. The charge separates carbon and hydrogen molecules so that carbon particles can be removed.

That means less carbon is burned, helping the customer reduce its emissions, while also improving the efficiency of those devices.

The clustered carbon byproduct has commercial value in the manufacturing of tires.

« Our market focus right now is the northeastern part of the United States. We've just opened an office in New Hampshire, hope our first sale will be in the Boston or New York area, » Wagner said.

The company has 37 shareholders, mostly individuals, but the largest shareholder is Emera, the Nova Scotia holding company that owns Nova Scotia Power and Bayside Power in Saint John.

For the company's chief technology officer, Mac Fraser, sending the technology off into the marketplace is akin to seeing a son or daughter onto the school bus for the first time.

« The challenges have not always been simple, » he said, but the work has been interesting.

« This one's been fun to take from an idea of development through to where we are now, » said Fraser.

« I'm a New Brunswicker and I'm proud to have something like this done here by New Brunswickers. »

The National Research Council announced Monday that Atlantic Hydrogen is receiving $1.1 million from the organization's Industrial Research Assistance Program.

Besides the money from corporate and individual investors, the company has benefitted from a number of rounds of government investment in recent years, including $2 million from ACOA last year and $2.2 million in 2002. It has also benefitted from $500,000 in funding from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and from $2 million from the province's New Brunswick Climate Change Action Plan.

It also received a $1-million tax credit two years ago because of the nature of its scientific work.

ACOA Minister Keith Ashfield, who was at the business Monday to deliver news of the latest funding, said support for high-tech firms is integral to ensuring Atlantic Canada's has a role in creating new technology and in taking that research and development out of the lab and into the marketplace.

« The economic future of our country depends on our ability to innovate, » Ashfield said. « The investments we're making in companies like this are supporting our science and technology program. It's important that Canada support its R&D sector. »

Companies have to prove their need for the funding, he said.

« They go through a very rigorous process. This isn't just something where they say we need more money to continue. This is reviewed, graded and ranked. »