Construction of Ontario’s first municipal Biodigester being built in Grey County, is moving forward and could be producing electricity for the grid by early November.
The 3.8 million dollar Biodigester is a joint project between Georgian Bluffs and Chatsworth.
Chatsworth Mayor Howard Greig says they have recently loaded 500 cubic meters of sludge into the containment area.
He says that will take several weeks to heat up enough to allow the bacteria to begin working, then other agricultural waste products will be added to begin to produce methane which in turn will be used to generate electricity.
Greig says they are looking for surplus agriculture products like corn stalks or old hay but will be trying to get as much organic material into the digester as well.
He says one of the advantages of disposing of organics in the biodigester is the elimination of odours which has been a persistent problem with large composters.
The cost of the biodigester initially was pegged at 2.5 million, but that cost increased by about one million dollars because of the addition of a pasteurizer.
That will increase the number and variety of products that can be put in the biodigester – fats, oils and greases – and creates an entirely new revenue stream that hadn’t previously been considered.
