Toronto announces biogas to grid project

The City of Toronto has announced plans for a new renewable natural gas (RNG) to grid project at a solid waste management facility.

In collaboration with Enbridge Gas Distribution, the City will begin installing new equipment at the Dufferin Solid Waste Management Facility later in 2019. This equipment will transform raw biogas from Toronto’s ‘Green Bin’ organic waste into RNG, and allow that gas to be injected into the grid.

The RNG will be used to fuel the city’s collection trucks, with the first cubic metre of RNG expected to be produced by the third quarter of 2019.

“This project represents a path to low-carbon fuel for the City and will play an important role in helping us reach our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050,” said Toronto’s Mayor, John Tory.

“I'm committed to working with City Council and City staff to ensure we are meeting our climate change action goals and to creating a more sustainable Toronto.” 

According to a statement, current estimates suggest that the Dufferin RNG facility will produce approximately 5.3 million cubic metres of RNG per year, enough to fuel 132 heavy duty garbage trucks or 90% of the City’s solid waste collection fleet. It is hoped that this will both the cost of the fleet of collection trucks, and its carbon footprint.

The City of Toronto and Enbridge will partner on the design and construction of the new equipment, as well as its operation and maintenance for the first 15 years.

“The Dufferin Organics Processing Facility is one of two state-of-the-art City facilities that use innovative pre-processing and anaerobic digestion technology to break down organic material,” said Councillor Jaye Robinson (Ward 25 Don Valley West), Chair of the City's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

“Introducing RNG production at the site further emphasises its status as a leading sustainable solid waste management facility.”