{"id":2532,"date":"2024-03-27T04:05:44","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T08:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/?page_id=2532"},"modified":"2024-03-27T04:05:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T08:05:44","slug":"elmira-biogas-looks-to-double-capacity-produce-renewable-natural-gas-woolwich-observer-29-june-2023","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/media\/elmira-biogas-looks-to-double-capacity-produce-renewable-natural-gas-woolwich-observer-29-june-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Elmira biogas looks to double capacity, produce renewable natural gas (Woolwich Observer, 29 June 2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mirrored from https:\/\/www.observerxtra.com\/elmira-biogas-looks-to-double-capacity-produce-renewable-natural-gas-2\/<\/a> on 27 March 2024.<\/p>\n

\n

By Steve Kannon
\nLast updated on Jun 29, 23
\nPosted on Jun 29, 23<\/p>\n

Elmira biogas looks to double capacity, produce renewable natural gas<\/h1>\n

On the backburner for the past year, plans to double the capacity of the biogas plant in Elmira are now moving ahead.<\/p>\n

In a presentation Tuesday night to Woolwich council, Paul Taylor, manager of new business development, said the expansion will help the facility divert more organic material and branch out into producing renewable natural gas.<\/p>\n

Opening in 2014, the facility transforms organic material \u2013 including green-bin waste collected by municipalities \u2013 into methane that is used to power generators that produce electricity sold into the grid. Output is currently about three megawatts, enough to power about a third of the residential homes in Elmira, for instance, Taylor said.<\/p>\n

A byproduct of the process is a slurry that is sold to farm operations as an organic fertilizer. It\u2019s proven to be a popular commodity, with demand outstripping supply, Taylor explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re actually one of the larger processors of green-bin organics in the province of Ontario \u2013 there are only a handful of facilities in Ontario that offer this kind of service.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process then screens out contaminants such as plastic bags, glass and bits of metal, leaving the certified organic agricultural fertilizer.<\/p>\n

In doubling the size of the plant, Bio-En would be able to double the amount of such fertilizer, he added<\/p>\n

A key component of the expansion is providing material for the growing market for renewable natural gas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat gas, once it\u2019s produced, will simply be sold into the existing Enbridge natural gas grid that operates in southwestern Ontario. In so doing, those molecules of gas are going to end up being consumed here in Elmira by natural gas consumers,\u201d said Taylor, noting that would in effect mean \u201clong-term energy self-reliance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woolwich Bio-En Power Inc. has applied to the Ministry of Environment for the necessary approvals, which could take about six months to process. While there\u2019s no timeline in place for construction, shovels could go in the ground by next spring at the earliest, said company director Chuck Martin in an interview.<\/p>\n

As part of the review process, the company had to update models for noise, odour and traffic impacts, he said, noting there is no request to increase the number of trucks cleared to access the site.<\/p>\n

Currently, the plant averages 10 or 11 trucks per day \u2013 half arriving with organic materials, half leaving with the leftover material \u2013 digestate \u2013 that finds its way to farmers\u2019 fields as fertilizer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not asking for any more truck traffic. There will be more, of course, but it fits within our existing approval, so we\u2019re not asking to double the size of trucks. We have it so that we can get all the trucks we get in on a typical day, which is, around 10 to 11. Trucks, in and out. So that\u2019s two trips, it\u2019s 22 trips a day,\u201d said Martin.<\/p>\n

He noted there have been few issues with the plant since it opened in 2014, and the operation has been incorporating new technology, allowing for improvements to the process, better screening of the raw materials for contaminants and better odour control.<\/p>\n

With the expansion, the facility will have to install filters to deal with the methane produced to reduce sulphur and carbon dioxide before channelling it into the natural gas pipeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got into it, it was all about making biogas to produce electricity. There\u2019s a fairly rapid shift in that from making electricity to producing renewable natural gas,\u201d he said of the impetus for the expansion.<\/p>\n

In his presentation to council, Taylor said the expanded facility is in line with the province\u2019s call for more capacity to process organic material \u2013 diverting it from landfill sites \u2013 and more renewable energy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mirrored from https:\/\/www.observerxtra.com\/elmira-biogas-looks-to-double-capacity-produce-renewable-natural-gas-2\/ on 27 March 2024. By Steve Kannon Last updated on Jun 29, 23 Posted on Jun 29, 23 Elmira biogas looks to double capacity, produce renewable natural gas On the backburner for the past year, plans to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":800,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2532","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2532"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2534,"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2532\/revisions\/2534"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sobac.com\/~stopthestink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}