GHGSat takes home $5K prize at CCIA’s Oil & Gas Cleantech Challenge

Friday September 2, 2016 Tags: Denver, CCIA, CCIA 2016 Oil & Gas Cleantech Challenge, Christine Shapard, Stephen Davis, Bob Randall

DENVER -- GHGSat Inc., a Canadian company that operates the world’s first satellite capable of detecting and measuring methane emissions, was named the winner of the third annual Oil and Gas Cleantech Challenge hosted by the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association  (CCIA).

As winner, GHGSat claimed the Challenge’s $5,000 cash prize, which was accepted by Stephen Davis, trade commissioner with the Canadian Consulate in Denver, on behalf of the company.

Davis said the company’s methane-detecting satellite was launched earlier this year to help companies identify leaks and reduce their emissions into the atmosphere.

The announcement of this year’s winner came after a day of business model pitches by 12 companies looking to serve the oil and gas industry.

The annual CCIA Oil and Gas Cleantech Challenge is intended to spotlight companies that offer products and services to benefit the state’s oil and gas industry while protecting the state’s environment.

Christine Shapard, CCIA executive director, said this year’s competition was particularly strong, with companies pitching everything from wireless emission sensor systems to recovering natural gas that would otherwise be flared off and wasted energy.

“We all feel that this year has been the pinnacle for this kind of pitch,” Shapard told a reception audience gathered at the Governor’s Mansion near downtown Denver after the competition.

The Challenge was open to Colorado-based companies and others from outside the state.

This year’s event partners and sponsors included Encana, Noble Energy, ConocoPhillips, Wells Fargo, the Colorado Energy Office, Altira, Sheridan Ross and Rocky Mountain Institute.

In addition to GHGSat, companies competing this year included:

• CoResource Solutions (www.coresource-solutions.com)
• EcoVapor Recovery Systems (www.ecovaporrs.com)
• Gas Recovery Partners (www.airworkscompressors.com)
• GC Solutions (www.gc-solutions-inc.com)
• mAIRsure
• Oilfield Clean Energy Solutions (www.ofces.com)
• Pipeline Insert Technologies (www.pipelineinsert.com)
• Red Hen Systems (www.redhensystems.com)
• Sitricity (www.sitricity.com)
• Timeli Corp. (www.timeli.io)
• Unico (www.unicous.com)

Bob Randall, executive director of Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources, acknowledged the oil and gas industry’s contribution to the state’s economy and praised the industry and the Challenge’s competing companies for their efforts to reduce the impacts of drilling for fossil fuels.