Westport Innovations

Image by: C. Mullaly

You can put together a long list of B.C. companies developing green technology, but single out those with real solutions at work in the world and the list gets a whole lot shorter. At the top of that list is Westport Innovations. Westport makes heavy truck engines that run on natural gas instead of diesel, reducing the emissions they produce. But its most impressive achievement is securing partnerships with a top-notch list of truck makers, including Cummins, Kenworth, Daimler, Sterling and Mack.
 
To many environmentalists, truck producers might seem like the enemy, but it is precisely they who must to be converted in order to enact major changes in industry. And Westport is doing so with some solid business fundamentals, selling their partners on the cost of natural gas relative to diesel in addition to its environmental benefits. Westport is not yet profitable but shows strong growth: it shipped more than 4,000 units in 2009, up from 2,700 the year before, with revenues growing by 70 per cent.

• Tags
  • Businesses, 
  • Transportation, 
  • Innovation