By Jesse Davies
Ottawa’s air is getting cleaner thanks to the Trail Road landfill.
Powertrail Inc., a local green energy company, opened a facility that will convert greenhouse gases into power at the city-owned dump in the west end this month.
The company, which is a partnership between Energy Ottawa Inc. and Integrated Gas Recovery Services, will reduce emissions by collecting toxic gas from the decomposing garbage and using it to produce electricity for 5,000 homes.
“Hydro Ottawa is the leader in this technology. It’s the first one in Ottawa,” says Rosemarie Leclair, chief executive of Hydro Ottawa, which manages Energy Ottawa.
The new Trail Road facility traps the landfill gas and stops it from getting into the atmosphere by burning it to make energy. Garbage produces mostly methane gas which is more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide.
Leclair says the project will eliminate harmful gases and reduce emissions in Ottawa by up to 180,000 tonnes annually.
The energy produced will also contribute to the overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario, since it will reduce some need for coal-fired power generation.
Green energy comes from renewable resources such as wind or solar power but it can also come from resources that would otherwise be wasted, like garbage.
“At Trail Road, our fuel source is the landfill,” says Greg Clarke, director of products and services for Energy Ottawa.
The technology used to take Trail Road’s flared landfill gas and direct it through internal combustion engines is not new, but the site is still one of the first in Ontario to turn residents’ garbage into five-megawatts of power.
The plant has a 20-year contract with the Ontario Power Authority for its green electricity but with a reliable long-term buyer like the province, Clarke says the site will likely remain open as long as the power is needed.
“These types of renewable energy projects are contributing to the reliability of electricity in the province,” says Clarke.
In exchange for allowing the gas to be collected from its site, the city saved $2 million on much-needed upgrades and repairs to the landfill’s existing gas collection system.
Powertrail is also going to pay $200,000 annually for the landfill’s operating costs and the company has an agreement to pay $150,000 in royalties to Ottawa for each year of the project.
“From the taxpayer’s perspective, that’s money the city doesn’t have to spend,” says Clarke.
The two green energy companies that make up Powertrail got together after Energy Ottawa made a bid for a provincial renewable power grant.
Paul Bulla, vice-president of operations for Comcor Environmental which operates Integrated Gas Recovery Services, says his company’s knowledge of landfill gas was brought in to complement Hydro Ottawa’s renewable energy expertise.
Bulla says the Powertrail partnership is just one of several new projects Comcor Environmental is working on as it investigates ways to expand its landfill operations into other Eastern Ontario municipalities.
“We are looking forward to doing more,” he says.
Hydro Ottawa is also searching for other renewable energy opportunities and Leclair says there are some landfill sites in the region that could be ready for similar projects.