[All] Fw: Wastewater costs offset by sewage methane

[Louisette Lanteigne]

FYI

--- On Thu, 2/10/11, Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com> wrote:

From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
Subject: Wastewater costs offset by sewage methane
To: "Dwayne (MAH)Evans" <Dwayne.Evans at ontario.ca>, Sharon.Bailey at ontario.ca, elizabeth.witmerco at pc.ola.org, jwilkinson.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org, KEby at regionofwaterloo.ca, mjane at region.waterloo.on.ca
Date: Thursday, February 10, 2011, 3:44 AM

Dear Hon. Ministers et al.
I came across the following article in the Huffington post speaking of how New York City is reclaiming methane from sewage to heat homes while offsetting wastewater management costs. It's an excellent program that also serves to improve overall water quality. 

Methane gas from sewage treatment plants is the biggest potential "cash cow". Already, 20 percent of the power used by the New York's 14 sewage plants comes from the sewage they house. Here is the link to the article: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/city-wants-to-use-sewage-_n_820809.html
Fracking practices used by natural gas industries pose serious risks for aquifer systems, but the reclamation of methane from sewage for residential heating is a far safer
 option to develop to maintain the long term health of our watershed and air quality. It's a localized energy supply using renewable, easy to access sources. It doesn't need to be extracted or transported significant distances. It just needs to be processed locally. 
I would like our region and provincial ministries promote this concept, and begin networking with other ministries to see if funding is available to develop solutions like this for Waterloo Region. 
Currently the McGuinty government is already planning to establish a gas plant in our area and I'd rather see it fueled by methane instead of gas from fracking. As a taxpayer, I appreciate the fact that a project like this offsets risks to aquifers while offsetting costs of wastewater management. Those perks won't come with a standard natural gas plant. 
Currently in Waterloo Region, there are serious concerns regarding the toxicity of our air quality but there is a system of harvesting power from methane that does not require a burning process. This system has been running for years in Renton Washington. The methane
 produced from biodigesters is stored in fuel cells and converted to electricity. To view this technology please visit here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5335635/ To view the official site of the fuel cell manufacturer who built Renton 's system, visit here: http://www.fuelcellenergy.com/wastewater-treatment.php
Currently RIM is using several coal burning generators to produce it's energy. Imagine if they were to partner with our agricultural sectors to get their energy from farm waste or sewage waste using a system like Renton's. The improvements to
 air quality and reduced illness costs of smog would be significant. 
In the Grand River Watershed, cattle produce waste equal to a population of 5 million people so there is no shortage of raw materials to work with but if producing energy can also reduce the risk of the impacts of this effluent on our surface and groundwater features, it's worth looking into to protect our watershed and the health of Lake Erie for the long term. The universities and GRCA could assist in monitoring the impacts of this facility on localized water quality and air quality. This area could become a global showcase for this
 technology. 
Thank you kindly for your time.
Louisette Lanteigne700 Star Flower Ave.Waterloo Ontario
N2V 2L2
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