Growing up in the B.C. Interior, I can remember one of my favourite outings was going to the local dump with my dad on a Saturday morning. We’d roll up the windows a couple of kilometres from the entrance to avoid inhaling the odour of ripening garbage; at times it was enough to make you gag, especially when combined with the stomach-churning stench of the egg farm which always seemed to hang in the valley. On the upside, however, was the goings-on at the dump. There was the big yellow bulldozer constantly crushing, churning and moving the massive piles of garbage around, and especially, the challenge of being in just the right place to snatch a perfectly good piece of furniture, or maybe a transistor radio. I once worked as a swamper on a garbage truck where the driver used to fish out change from the hopper once we’d dumped our load at the landfill, ensuring us a good supply of cold drinks for the week. Back then nobody gave much thought to whether any of that garbage could be put to use, but now, with the price of oil being what it is, and the continuing emphasis on lowering greenhouse gas emissions, companies are scratching their heads trying to figure out ways to harness that foul-smelling methane gas generated from landfills.

Scientists say methane is 22 times more toxic to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, and although it is a relatively small percentage of total GHG emissions – about three percent nationally – some provinces are targeting methane capture as a good way to lighten their carbon footprint. The Ontario government wants to make it mandatory for new and existing landfills to install a system to capture methane, while in B.C., where methane emissions are higher than the rest of the country due to its small manufacturing sector, the government is also considering new regulations for landfills.

The gas is collected and sent via pipeline to heat nearby industrial or agricultural operations; if enough gas can be used to produce electricity, it can be sold into the power grid. Methane capture is not without its problems, however, the most pressing being the need for a relatively large landfill that produces enough gas for a project to be viable. Somewhere between 1.5 and 10 megawatts is desirable. Anything smaller than that, and the economics get challenging.

This technology is new to North America, but as with most areas of environmental technology, we are behind the curve compared to what’s happening in Europe. In Germany, where I recently attended the IFAT trade show in Munich, there are over 40 plants utilizing biogas to produce energy, with several “waste-to-energy” companies represented at the show. There does appear to be growing interest on this side of the pond, however. On page 4 of this issue, notice a partnership in California to create the world’s largest facility to convert landfill gas into LNG fuel for trucks. And on page 8, a profile of Nexterra Energy Corp., a B.C. company that converts “biomass” wastewood into synthetic gas that can be used to heat industrial plants and public buildings. Look for more stories in upcoming issues of Canadian Environmental Protection, as we continue to follow the leading edge of this exciting new sector of our industry.

AWARDS TO RECOGNIZE CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL ACHIEVEMENT

The Canadian Environment Awards has shortlisted the finalists who will be honoured during its annual celebration of enviornmental achievement. In-spired by the community-action objectives of Canadian Environment Week, which takes place in Toronto from June 1 to 7, the Canadian Environment Awards program is a national bilingual celebration that recognizes four levels of environmental excellence: Community Awards, Citation of Lifetime Achieve-ment, the Ideas for Life Award and The Green Team Challenge.

The Community Awards celebrates 18 individuals and grassroots groups chosen by a panel of environmental luminaries from nominations submitted by the Canadian public. The Canadian Environment Awards is also supported by nine Canadian corporations. Shell Canada is the lead corporate sponsor. For details of Canadian Environment Awards 2008 or to purchase tickets to the Awards Gala, visit www.canadiangeographic. ca/cea.