Energy from excrement. It’s not a new concept—but in some Canadian cities, it appears to be going to the dogs.
The City of Ottawa is looking into the idea of turning dog poop into renewable natural gas (RNG). The process is known as anaerobic digestion, and it occurs when organic waste—from farms, landfills, forests, and water treatment plants—breaks down in an oxygen-free environment.
When it’s captured, cleaned and upgraded, RNG can be used interchangeably with natural gas. It has potential to be a carbon-neutral fuel, and the Canadian Gas Association says that harnessing a mere 10% of Canada’s RNG potential would generate enough clean energy to heat a million Canadian homes for a year.
“City staff have had conversations with Sutera (a solid waste containment company) regarding their pilot programs in other municipalities across Ontario,” says Laila Gibbons, Ottawa’s director of parks, forestry and storm water services.
In Ontario, Waterloo has been operating a dog-poop-to-power pilot project for the past year, with RNG produced at a nearby plant in Elmira, while Mississauga hopes to collect 60 metric tonnes of dog waste a year through a similar project.
RNG is a small but growing waste-to-energy stream, with practical potential:
In this first chapter of our Blue Flame Bounty series, we look at the upside of natural gas as a fuel for large transportation fleets, and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles
Fossil fuel or a renewable source of energy we can tap to fuel our vehicles and heat our homes? The answer may surprise you.
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