By Chad Ingram
Published Jan. 23 2018
The Municipality of Dysart et al will apply for a grant to conduct a feasibility study regarding the establishment of methane capture program in the township.
John Desbiens president and CEO of Cambium Inc. along with Chris Ferguson of CCS Biogas visited councillors during their Jan. 22 meeting.
Desbiens had previously attended a Dysart environment and conservation committee meeting in December to discuss a methane capture system.
The process would involve installing a series of pipes under a gas-tight cap. Clay is the most commonly used material in such projects. Methane gas which can be burned for a variety of energy applications including electricity and geo-thermal heating collects in the pipes. It can then be vacuumed out stored in compressed gas cylinders and sold or processed.
Desbiens estimated that approximately 500 tonnes of methane is produced at the landfill in Haliburton Village each year an estimated 200 tonnes at the West Guilford landfill.
“It is transportable it’s a matter of just collecting it and deciding what you’re going to do with it” Desbiens told councillors.
Ferguson’s CCS Biogas plant is located in Millbrook.
“Ontario is moving toward a waste-free strategy” Desbiens said adding that at some point food waste a major source of methane may no longer be permitted in landfills.
Septage can also be used to produce power and Desbiens told council should the municipality wish to construct a biogas plant of its own it would likely cost in the neighbourhood of $2 million.
Mayor Murray Fearrey saw a methane capture program as an opportunity for the municipality to generate revenue from landfill sites once they have been shut down.
“Otherwise we’re going to cap these landfills and it’s going to sit in the ground forever” Fearrey said.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities provides funding for such projects under its Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program and council voted to apply for money to conduct a feasibility study.
Grants from the FCM cover up to 80 per cent of costs.
Cambium will submit the application for funding and council agreed that a study would only proceed should the municipality attain funding from the FCM or some other source.