Calgary wants study on potential of converting city's landfill gas to energy
By Brodie Thomas, Toronto Metro.
One city’s trash could be electricity for thousands of homes in that same city.
After a lapsed pilot project, the city is once again looking at tapping into that sweet, sweet methane gas generated by Calgary’s three landfills.
Martin Ortiz, manager of disposal and processing for waste and recycling services, said some of the infrastructure needed is already in place.
Calgary installed gas collection systems at its East Calgary facility in 2004 and at the Shepard facility in 2005.
Plans are in the works to install the same sort of system at the Spy Hill facility this year.
The city’s initial 11-year pilot project involved cleaning the gas, and then burning it in a special engine, which turned a generator.
“Combined – the two facilities produced enough to power 1,500 homes,” said Ortiz.
However, the pilot project ran its course, and when the equipment reached the end of its lifecycle, the city shut it down.