SUMMARY

Stanton Farms will deliver pipeline-quality RNG into Enbridge Gas grid.

By Dale Lunan

The first farm-based renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Ontario is now operational, delivering an estimated 3mn m3/year of RNG that will be blended into the natural gas delivery network of Enbridge Gas, the utility said October 14.

Stanton Farms, a dairy operation near the town of Ilderton, has been using biogas produced from one of Canada’s first on-farm anaerobic digestion systems to generate clean electricity for the town for more than a decade.

With its second digester now in operation, Stanton Farms will divert more than 60,000 mt/yr of community-based organic waste each year, reducing the release of methane and eliminating more than 11,000 mt/yr of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s the equivalent of taking more than 2,200 passenger vehicles off the road.

“Stanton Farms’ new RNG facility builds on our commitment to sustainability and helps decarbonise Canada’s natural gas supply,” said Laurie Stanton, president of Stanton Farms.

The latest project, he said, makes Ilderton one of Canada’s “most renewable communities” by supplying renewable energy for both its heating and electricity needs.

“The increasing demand of RNG in Ontario, and beyond, enables farms like Stanton to demonstrate environmental leadership by converting farm waste into a useable, low-carbon energy source,” Steven Jelich, director of southwest regional operations for Enbridge Gas, said in a blog post on the utility’s website. “We’re pleased to support this innovative collaboration, which exemplifies how farms and utilities can leverage existing resources and energy infrastructure to reduce emissions and stimulate regional economic development.”