Demonstrating the Potential for Fuel Switching in the Town of Georgina

In partnership with the Town of Georgina, the Ontario Water Centre (OWC) will pilot a micro biodigester technology to produce compressed renewable natural gas (CRNG) to fuel eight commercial vehicles. For this pilot, a minimum of two vehicles will be owned and operated by the Town of Georgina and the rest by OWC, while OWC will operate the bio digester and greenhouse configuration. The biodigester will utilize two tonnes of organic waste per day, and produce 300 cubic meters of biogas per day running at full capacity. The pilot will be situated at ClearWater farm, an educational demonstration site adjacent to Lake Simcoe, which is owned by the Town of Georgina and operated by the Ontario Water Centre. Renewable fuel will be generated from organic farm waste as well as food waste from local businesses including a supermarket, high school cafeteria, and restaurant. The biodigestion technology was developed by Qube Rewables in the UK and is notable for its small, scalable configuration and its ability to be installed at extremely low costs compared to alternative biodigestion technology. It includes a debagger, macerator and reception bin to handle incoming organic streams, as well as the anaerobic biodigestion unit, gas bladder, and biomethane upgrading station to convert the biogas into usable CRNG for vehicle refueling. The pilot project is expected to result in a GHG reduction of 32 tonnes CO2e/year, assuming a 50% conversion from conventional fuel used in the vehicles. In a scaled-up scenario, if all of the Town's 49 light duty and 16 heavy duty gas-powered vehicles were converted to CRNG used at a 50% ratio, the annual GHG savings would be 260 metric tonnes of CO2 per year. As well as testing the biodigestion and fuel production technology, the pilot project will research potential organic streams available in Georgina; potential fleet vehicle users of CRNG; viable sites for deployment of technology; potential conversion scenarios; and the economics associated with running and managing a biodigester, greenhouse, and CRNG fueling node as an independent business. Combining biodigestion with greenhouses and backup from a natural gas system will enable the project to balance higher agricultural transportation demand for CRNG in summer with higher greenhouse heating demand in winter, and an ability to supplement both with regular natural gas if unanticipated usage spikes occur. The model for expansion is built around a public/private deployment strategy where the municipality purchases vehicle fuel, and private partners supply organics and operate biodigestion facilities as an arm’s-length commercial unit that charges market rates for the gas it generates in order to cover operating costs. The initiative is directly in line with the recently approved Official Plan, which stresses the Town's commitment to sustainability and a triple-bottom line approach, vision for a low-carbon, zero-waste community, and focus on climate change, renewable energy, and agriculture. It also aligns with the Province's "Resource Recovery and Waste Reduction Strategy" which includes an organic action plan to reduce waste and increase diversion. From a knowledge value and replicability standpoint, the pilot will include development of a business model template with operational, commercial and financing considerations for the deployment of a network of similarly-configured CRNG fueling sites across Georgina and another generic municipality. (Project description from original funding application)