In August 2020, the company announced it had completed a $28 million cogeneration project that uses renewable landfill gas from a local landfill to power and heat its St.
The project began in late 2016, when Mike Watt, executive vice-president of Walker Industries – an organics recovery company that runs one of the largest landfills in Ontario – met with Carolyne Watts, plant director at the St.
Carolyne voiced her support and the two companies, along with their partner, Integrated Gas Recovery Services , began planning the project.
The pipeline that carries the LFG runs through property controlled by the Niagara Escarpment Commission and the St.
That process produces two gases, methane and CO2, in roughly equal quantities.
“Siloxanes are prevalent in landfill gas, and it tends to not be great if the siloxanes are burnt along with the gas in engines,” Watt explains.
At the plant, the gas goes to what the partners refer to as “energy islands.” These islands are actually four engines that generate electricity to be used on-site.
So, of the amount of energy that’s stored in that fuel, you’re recovering only about 37 per cent of it as power,” Watt says.
“It’s displacing what we would have bought from the Ontario grid.
“The project may not have been as successful if the landfill had been 40 kilometres away,” Giroux says when asked what factors contributed to their success.
“We’ve really solved an energy problem for an adjacent neighbour, rather than just putting green energy into the grid,” Watt adds.
Consequently, for more endeavours like this to come online, both Giroux and Watt believe more government support is needed.
“The federal government is still talking about how they intend to return funds collected under their carbon policies, at least those collected from large industries under the output-based-pricing system.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities recently launched its Green Municipal Fund to help support initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Watt notes.
GM Canada is exploring using different types of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, to power their operations around the world.