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Originally published by University of Alberta. See original post here.
U of A partnership with City of Edmonton and Diesel Tech Industries will boost research and training aimed at reducing emissions from city vehicles.
January 27, 2026 By Geoff McMaster
The University of Alberta is teaming up with the City of Edmonton and Diesel Tech Industries (DTI) to reduce carbon emissions from the city’s fleet of diesel-powered buses by integrating hydrogen fuel into combustion engines.
If successful, the project will provide vehicle operators across Canada with a retrofit solution to immediately reduce their carbon footprint without replacing existing fleets, says David Gordon, co-principal investigator along with Bob Koch, both professors in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Examining both hydrogen-diesel dual fuel combustion and 100 per cent hydrogen combustion, researchers in the U of A’s Mechanical Engineering Energy Control Lab will explore ways to increase hydrogen-to-diesel fuel replacement. They will develop new control strategies to handle the higher combustion temperatures from burning hydrogen, and investigate the operating range and potential emission benefits of these engines.
“We’re also investing in the next generation of clean-tech leaders,” says Gordon. “Engineers-in-training will have the opportunity to conduct hands-on research and write their theses on hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel technology.”
Leveraging the U of A’s extensive experience with machine learning control and diagnostics, DTI will produce retrofit kits for Edmonton’s bus fleet that can then be sold to operators across Canada to help them transition to carbon-free transportation, all consistent with the goals of Alberta’s Hydrogen Roadmap.
The collaborative project is funded through an NSERC Alliance partnership with the City of Edmonton and by an Emissions Reduction Alberta grant.
