CALGARY: Trimac Transportation Ltd has been awarded a five-year contract to transport gasoline and diesel products for UFA Co-operative Limited. The award, which begins on May 1, includes existing and incremental business in Northern and Central Alberta.

“We are very pleased with our expanded business partnership with UFA”, said Ed Malysa, president and COO of Trimac. “Trimac has an excellent relationship with UFA that spans nearly a decade. We share a common set of goals and values and are committed to providing value to UFA and its customers.”

UFA has a diversified portfolio of businesses that include petroleum products and services, farm and ranch supply stores and wholesale sports outdoor outfitters. The value of the contract is estimated to be approximately $19 million annually and $95 million over the five-year term.

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Trimac lands fuel hauling contract

CALVERTON, MARYLAND: The year 2011 proved to be the strongest one in history for intermodal container traffic.

According to the Market Trends & Statistics Report issued by Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), last year there were 12.4 million moves. This number surpassed the previous North American record, set in 2007, by 3.7 percent.

Other key figures were also up. Overall volume increased 4.9 percent for the year and 4.1 percent in the final quarter. These numbers mark intermodal’s second, consecutive, year-over-year volume gain and eighth consecutive quarterly increase.

In comparison with the final quarter of 2010, Q4 2011 saw a three percent drop in trailer volumes, but a 12.1 percent increase in domestic containers. All domestic equipment was up 7.9 percent.

Comparing the overall figures for 2011 with the numbers from 2010, last year had increases in volume across the board. Trailers were up 1.7 percent. Domestic containers were 9.6 percent higher. All domestic equipment had a 7.5 percent increase and ISO container volume was 2.8 percent stronger.

The report also found that “big box domestic loadings of 14.6m (48ft) and 16.2m (53ft) domestic containers also posted their highest-recorded numbers in Q4 and the year, accounting for 39.8 percent of all container volume during 2011.”

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Intermodal record set

CALGARY: Imperial Oil Ltd. has approved a $2 billion expansion of the company’s Cold Lake operation in northeastern Alberta.

The Calgary-based petroleum company said the Nabiye expansion will add bitumen production of more than 40,000 barrels per day at Cold Lake. The project will access 280 million barrels of recoverable reserves and is to start-up by year-end 2014.

The expansion will include development of a new steam generation and bitumen-processing plant, field production pads and associated facilities.

Imperial received regulatory approvals for Nabiye in 2004 and amended regulatory approvals were obtained in 2010 to improve the project’s environmental performance.

Improvements include a 170-megawatt cogeneration facility to enhance the plant’s energy efficiency and a reduced land footprint for field production pads.

The company describes the Cold Lake facility as the largest and longest-running in situ oil sands operation in Canada that includes four steam generation and bitumen production plants. The operation produced an average of 160,000 barrels of bitumen per day in 2011.

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Imperial Oil sanctions $2B Cold Lake expansion

QUEBEC: Biotech company Medicago Inc. is investing about $4 million and creating 20 new jobs as it expands its Quebec research plant.

The company said new investment includes capital spending and labour costs, as well as preclinical studies to speed up research for a rabies vaccine and other drugs.

“We are happy to invest in our local community with the addition of approximately 20 new employees in 2012,” said Andrew Sheldon, president and CEO of the company.

Medicago is a clinical-stage biotech company developing vaccines and therapeutic proteins to treat infectious diseases.

The company uses proprietary technologies it says will speed up and lower the costs of developing vaccines.

© 2012 The Canadian Press

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Medicago invests $4M in Quebec R&D expansion

Engineers at the automaker’s Pontiac Engineering Centre are turning exhaust fumes from engine tests into energy to power the facility’s lighting and air conditioning

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PONTIAC, Mich.—Engineers at a General Motors’ (GM) engineering centre are using excess energy from engine testing to power parts of the facility.

Since the Pontiac Engineering Centre began the energy efficiency project after a 2008 renovation, the facility has regenerated more than 26.7 million kilowatt hours of energy to power internal processes—the equivalent of the electricity consumed by 2,326 U.S. households in one year.

“Pontiac was a brownfield project, which meant parts of it were in existence already, but other wings of the facility had to be built from the ground up,” said Dave Gunnels, engineering manager for Pontiac test facilities. “The benefit of building from scratch was that we were able to bake in energy efficiency aspects directly into the system, rather than trying to retrofit.”

The energy generated from engine testing powers air conditioning and lighting in the laboratory area. Besides lowering the overall energy output, GM designers downsized the transformers and network architecture—similar to a motherboard in a computer—because not as much original energy would be needed.

The facility also cleans the remaining engine exhaust before releasing it into the atmosphere. A common ductwork system collects engine exhaust and helps it travel through thermal oxidizers outside the plant before being released into the air.

The “destruction efficiency” is 96 per cent, meaning all but 4 per cent of hydrocarbons and other constituents are removed before release.

Pontiac has four thermal oxidizers at its disposal, used only on an as-needed basis.

“If we’re running fewer test engines within the facility, we might only have one or two units operating,” Gunnels said. “We don’t want to consume more energy than we need to.”

Check out the video below to see how the technology works.

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GM converts exhaust to energy [VIDEO]

Excess capacity to blame for plant shutdown that puts 40 people out of work.

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OWEN SOUND, Ont.—Veyance Technologies Canada has closed its Owen Sound operation, putting almost 40 people out of work.

The company makes power transmission belts for automotive and industrial applications.

Company officials blame the decision on an excess of plant capacity in product lines manufactured in Owen Sound. The operation has been downsized over the past few years.

Veyance is the exclusive manufacturer and marketer of Goodyear Engineered Products worldwide, manufacturing Goodyear-branded air springs, power transmission products and conveyor belts.

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Veyance Technologies shutters Owen Sound plant

Deal could be part of a string of recent investments by Chinese oil companies looking to capitalize on Canada’s vast energy resources.

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CALGARY—PetroChina is buying part of Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s shale gas lands in northeastern B.C.

Peter Voser, CEO of the Anglo-Dutch energy giant, confirmed that PetroChina has agreed to buy a 20 per cent interest in some of Shell’s Groundbirch lands.

The purchase price has yet to be announced.

Chinese energy companies have been looking to Canada to potentially fuel China’s growing need for energy—from coal and oil to natural gas.

Plans have been proposed to build pipelines to the West Coast to ship oil and liquefied natural gas for eventual tanker delivery across the Pacific Ocean to Asia.

Northern Alberta’s oilsands reserves have generated major interest from Chinese companies. PetroChina recently acquired a 100 per cent interest in the MacKay River development and another state-owned outfit, Sinopec, acquiring a nine per cent stake in the Syncrude Canada Ltd. mine a few years ago.

But University of Alberta professor Wenran Jiang said other types of energy assets are also piquing China’s interest.

“There’s a fairly clear… shift of emphasis from the oilsands assets to conventional oil and gas and shale,” he said.

Sinopec bought conventional producer Daylight Energy Ltd. last year for $2.2 billion. PetroChina and natural gas giant Encana had been looking to work together on B.C. shale assets, but a deal fell through last year.

Likely adding to the B.C. assets’ attractiveness to PetroChina is the fact that Shell is one of many companies looking to build a liquefied natural gas export terminal off Canada’s West Coast, said Jiang.

“These are all connected. If China’s going to invest very heavily in our oilsands or conventional oil and gas and shale and all the others, it would only be logical that they would want to look at shipping options,” he said.

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PetroChina acquires 20 per cent stake in Shell’s Groundbirch shale gas lands

Tolomatic IMA actuators designed for high-force food and beverage applications.

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Tolomatic’s IMA line, the company’s integrated motor rod actuator, is now available with a food-grade white epoxy coating and stainless steel components for washdown applications. Available in four sizes, the IMA line features stroke lengths from three to 18 inches (76.2 to 457.2 mm) and peak thrusts from 200 to 6,875 pounds force (890 to 30,594 N) at speeds up to 24 inches per second (610 mm/sec).

The actuator series integrates a servomotor and a ball or roller screw. Its hollow-core rotor design allows the nut of the screw to pass inside the rotor. The motor features skewed stator windings to minimize cogging. In addition to food-grade white epoxy, modifications include food-grade greases and stainless steel external components.
www.tolomatic.com

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Food-Grade Actuators

Paper has smaller environmental footprint than traditional offset papers, company says

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MONTREAL: Resolute Forest Products has unveiled its Align family of high brightness, environmentally responsible papers that can be used as alternatives to chemical pulp coated and uncoated freesheet in most commercial printing applications. Typical freesheet papers are designed for brightness and use more trees and chemicals than are needed for most print applications. Align papers are made with up to 50 percent less wood fibre and have a smaller environmental footprint than traditional offset papers, including some containing recycled content. Resolute said that by delivering higher opacity and bulk at a lower basis weight than traditional freesheet, Align also helps reduce paper, postage and transportation costs.

“For several years, Resolute has seen growing demand for high-quality, eco-conscious papers that can reduce print costs,” said Richard Garneau, President and CEO. “With our Align papers, customers can reduce fiber consumption and save money without sacrificing quality in their printed products.”

Because Align grades use less wood than freesheet, fewer trees are required, said Resolute. As well, the company said its higher bulk and opacity at a lower basis weight allows customers get good printability at a lower cost. Based on their needs, clients can either pay less for paper, pay less for postage, or print and mail more at the same cost.

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Resolute unveils environmentally responsible papers

Fresh lobster, oysters and clams make P.E.I. a food lovers dream holiday

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Charlottetown, P.E.I. – Zagat, the global restaurant guide and culinary authority, has named Prince Edward Island as one of the world’s top eight getaway destinations for food lovers.

P.E.I. was ranked second in the listing of best foodie vacations, after Okinawa, Japan. The guide noted the province’s diverse seafood and locally grown fare as reasons for visiting. P.E.I. was the list’s only Canadian destination.

“Prince Edward Island has the best of both land and sea,” says Ted Grant, chef and instructor at Holland College’s Culinary Institute of Canada in Charlottetown. “Having such direct access to fresh ingredients such as lobsters, oysters, clams and potatoes allows chefs to create not only the freshest meals, but also the best tasting.”

Also on the list of top foodie vacation spots were Louisville, Ky.; Cornwall, England; Vieques, Puerto Rico; Morelia, Mexico; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Cairo, Egypt.

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P.E.I. named one of world’s top foodie destinations