Rethinking Lifestyle

On Monday, the Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gordon MacKintosh and Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz announced the methane gas collection system at the Brady Road Landfill was finally commissioned. This $7million facility will collect and treat methane generated within the landfill over its lifetime and up to 20 years after it closes.

So why is methane a problem?

Methane gas is produced through a process called methanogenesis as organic materials are decomposed in anaerobic conditions. The gas is then lost to the atmosphere directly from the landfill surface or by diffusing through the soil cover. Its global warming potential is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Given this, and the fact that it is a short-lived gas in the atmosphere, reducing emissions of methane can be a highly effective means of reducing man-made climate change. The estimates for Brady Road are that the amount of gas removed from the atmosphere is equivalent to taking 22,000 vehicles off the road.

The system at Brady Road will collect the methane gas through wells throughout the site and will pipe it to a blower that generates a flare. The flare combusts the methane at 871C and burned off as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide as we all know is also a ‘warming’ gas, but far less potent than methane. So the system is definitely going to improve things, but could more be done?

Yes, it could. Gas is a significant energy source and there are a number of options.

The landfill could generate electricity onsite by combustion that drives generating turbines, or the gas could be collected and added to local natural gas sources. It could also be used to generate heat onsite that is piped to local homes. Germany heats more than 3.5 million homes from landfill gas, and Sweden is running a passenger train on the biogas.

So why does Manitoba not do this?

The Province does have a desire to use the gas, but it comes down to the need for partners, a willingness to do it, and the proximity of those who would benefit. That means there needs to be a plan – a strategy. Not simply the bold words or statements that appear in the Tomorrow Now Green Plan.

The heat option is the simplest and most efficient – an onsite combustion plant generates heat that is transported into a community distribution system. And heat is certainly in demand in Manitoba. But it means people or businesses have to be located close to the landfill, which tends to be unattractive due to nuisance problems like odour.

Electricity generation that feeds into the local grid is another option. The technology is well established in Europe and US. However, with Manitoba solidly wed to hydro-power the costs would have to be very attractive to stand a chance of being a serious consideration unless the will to change is strong.

To me, the gas is free, it’s a pollutant, we should be using it more effectively. We just have to get on with strategizing and make it happen.