Sludge Watch ==> Vancouver: Micro-sludge - Biogass from sludge

[Maureen Reilly]

Sewage biogas power planned

By Jeff Nagel

Oct 10 2007

The methane that belches from sewage at Metro Vancouver’s Lulu Island 
treatment plant near Steveston in Richmond may soon be harnessed to generate 
energy.

The regional government will contribute $1 million to a project to capture 
the gas for power. Local firm Paradigm Environmental Technologies has 
proposed the use of its “MicroSludge” technology to more efficiently digest 
more sewage sludge and generate 50 per cent more biogas.

The $10 million project is contingent on getting most of its funding through 
provincial and federal green initiatives.

The process Paradigm proposes also destroys pathogens, alleviates odours and 
reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

The methane-powered engines to be installed would provide the sewage plant 
with all the heat it needs and nearly all the electricity it consumes.

The Lulu plant would become the second plant in the region, after Metro’s 
Annacis Island waste water treatment plant, capturing methane for 
electricity.

Paradigm is framing the project as a “showcase” sustainability initiative 
for the 2010 Winter Olympics using locally developed technology.

Greenhouse gases and money would also be saved because the amount of sewage 
sludge produced would be cut in half. One truckload a day of Lulu sludge is 
currently hauled about 550 kilometres to a mine reclamation site near 
Williams Lake at a cost of $2,600 per load.

jnagel at surreyleader.com

http://www.surreyleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=73&cat=23&id=1079906&more=0