Monday, September 08, 2008

Sewage gas powers up Prince George treatment plant

CBC NEWS:

Residents of Prince George will have one more reason to feel good every time they flush their toilets, after the mayor switched on a set of new power-generation turbines at the city's sewage treatment plant on Friday. The five new turbine engines burn compressed gas emitted from the sewage, enabling the treatment plant to generate about 40 per cent of its own power. The city's manager of the utilities division, Marco Fornari, said the project — inspired by similar projects at U.S. landfills — is the first in Canada to try the new technology, but others may soon follow. "We have had interest from other municipalities and other engineering firms that work with cities or would like to work on this kind of technology," Fornari said on Monday. The total cost of the project was about $1 million, and the city estimates it will take nine years or more to recover the investment.

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