"Traditional composters -- the one you've got in your backyard and the one we used to have in Guelph, Canada -- use air to break down food, and give off carbon dioxide. In this system, called aerobic, organics rot quickly at high temperatures for a week or more. The temperatures then drop and the harder-to-decompose materials break down until the compost stabilizes -- a process called curing. Less common, anaerobic systems don't use oxygen, and produce methane as food scraps break down. This methane can be captured and used to heat homes or run cars. Toronto runs one of the country's only anaerobic digesters -- at its Dufferin composting facility. It's been working so well, the facility is being doubled in size and a second is being built near the airport, said Brian van Opstal, Toronto's acting manager of operational planning for solid waste. Toronto's situation is unique -- there's no space in the city for an aerobic composter, which requires a large pad for curing. So the city does the initial anaerobic steps in Dufferin, then ships the material out of town for curing. Mr. van Opstal said "It's impossible for me to say it's the way to go for everyone, but we can say the Dufferin facility shows conclusively that anaerobically digesting household waste is very feasible,". At the Dufferin plant, a tonne of organics creates 110 cubic metres of so-called biogas. That gas produces about 660 kilowatt hours of energy. "This technology, is used around Europe to squeeze every drop out of waste, he said."
For information on the sale of biogas turnkey operations or other alternative energy resources contact: Morren Mondial Associates Inc. at: mma@europehouse.com
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