Nov 22, 2005
Gas project gets OK
The Regina Leader-Post
Anne Kyle
City hall was given the green light Monday to execute a memorandum
of understanding and to begin negotiating a landfill gas hydrogen
generation project development and operating agreement with the
Solar Hydrogen Energy Corporation Ltd. (SHEC Labs).
In December 2004 the city was approached by SHEC Labs of Saskatoon
to join a consortium of private and public partners, who want to
build a $30-million commercial hydrogen production facility,
utilizing renewable solar energy and landfill gas.
The city will supply and sell the raw landfill gas as the raw
feedstock for the hydrogen production process as well as build a
landfill gas collection system at the Fleet Street landfill next
year. The estimated $1.9-million project cost is contained in the
city's proposed 2006 capital budget.
In October, the consortium received $2 million in federal
Sustainable Development Technology Canada funding to help offset
the costs of constructing a $6-million demonstration scale
project. If the demonstration project is viable the commercial
facility to produce hydrogen as well as substitute natural gas
will go ahead.
"I think when we look at our landfill .... I think frankly we could
be seen as a leader in the country with this project," said Mayor
Pat Fiacco at Monday's city council meeting.
"This process, if proven to be commercially viable, will generate
a marketable product from a pollutant, with positive environmental
benefits. There is also the opportunity to generate revenue for
the city through the sale of the landfill gas as a commodity, as
well as through the future value of greenhouse-gas credits," he
said.
"This is more than just about capturing methane gas from the
landfill," Fiacco said.
"There could be tremendous spinoffs," he added, explaining this
project has the potential of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions as
well as developing a value-added product from a pollutant.
"Use of landfill gas in a process that converts the methane to
hydrogen or natural gas has the added benefit of replacing
non-renewable fossil fuels and further reducing greenhouse-gas
emissions," Fiacco said, reading from a report tabled at the
council meeting.
"Additionally, the solar hydrogen production process utilizes
energy captured from the sun to make the conversion from methane
to hydrogen, greatly reducing the requirements for energy from
non-renewable fossil fuels.
"The project will convert a potent greenhouse gas, into value added
hydrogen, with no net increase in air pollution or greenhouse
gases."
At full capacity, the landfill gas collection system will collect
and destroy about 56,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per
year.
