BACKGROUNDER 

April 27, 2007

TURNING WASTE INTO GREEN ENERGY AND JOBS

The McGuinty government is helping innovative companies develop cutting-edge technologies that will strengthen Ontario's economic advantage and provide high-value jobs for the future.

An excellent example of this is the government's support for a demonstration plant in Ottawa, operated by the Plasco Energy Group. The plant will operate for two years at the city's Trail Road landfill and divert 85 tonnes of waste per day. Using Plasco's patented plasma gasification technology, the plant will break the waste down leaving a clean fuel and an inert, glass-like solid.

The clean fuel will be used to generate electricity onsite. About 20 per cent of the electricity generated will power the plant; the rest will be sold to Ontario Hydro. Plasco predicts that it will generate enough electricity to power nearly 4,000 homes. Generation is as clean as electricity generation using natural gas—the gold standard in clean energy.

The solid material is useful as an aggregate for concrete and asphalt.

Ontario is investing $4 million in this project through its Innovation Demonstration Fund (IDF). The project is also supported by Sustainable Development Technology Canada and the City of Ottawa. The technology's commercial potential has also attracted $18 million in private investment.

If successful, Plasco predicts it could handle all of Ottawa's solid waste through three similar plants, diverting 200,000 tonnes of waste from landfill every year and generating enough electricity to light 25,000 homes. As waste diversion and the need for clean electricity become a challenge for more and more municipalities, Ottawa-based Plasco believes its technology will become the method of choice for processing a significant amount of solid waste around the world.

This demonstration exemplifies what the IDF program is all about: turning home-grown ideas into home-grown jobs.