If the province included trash gasification as part of its green energy program, garbage produced in the present would not be the only source of fuel. Generators would also want to tap trash that has been sealed up in landfills for decades, an approach that would relieve municipalities of high annual maintenance costs. The Ontario landscape is dotted with nearly 400 dormant landfills that could be processed for power generation using the new technology, which is already in use in Europe.
"Energy from biomass and energy from waste should be huge election issues locally this year," Windham Coun. Jim Oliver said. "Both of these affect this area immensely."
The gasification system Fernlea proposes produces no toxic emissions. Trash processed in this manner is burned at high heat, leaving behind an inert dust similar to volcanic ash.
