CBRM gets funds to turn sludge into power

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality will receive more than $750,000 for a wastewater sludge anaerobic digestion with combined heat and power project.

The CBRM is building a small anaerobic digester at the Battery Point Wastewater Treatment Plant to process the sludge and capture the resulting biogas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60 per cent. CBRM’s two wastewater treatment plants currently produce 1,821 tonnes of sludge annually. The sludge is transferred to a local solid waste facility and then trucked off Cape Breton where it is put in a landfill. Greenhouse gas emissions are associated with landfilled organics and the diesel fuel used for transporting the sludge. There are major odour complaints in the community.

Power generated by the new digester is intended to offset both electricity costs and oilfired heating costs at the facility. Given that biogas will be produced on-site and used for electricity and thermal production, there will be less risk associated with a disruption to fuel or electrical supply

The project is among $12.1 million in funding announced Tuesday for 159 initiatives across Canada by FrançoisPhilippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and Vicki-May Hamm, President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities through three programs — the Green Municipal Fund, the Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program and the Municipal Asset Management Program.