Capital Power's 4.8 megawatt (MW) Clover Bar Landfill Gas Generating Station at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre is powered by methane gas produced by decomposing organic material. It produces enough energy to power 4,600 homes.
The City of Edmonton has purchased the power output from the Clover Bar facility – an investment that ensures a significant portion of its energy requirements come from a renewable resource.
Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Using it for electricity exploits a resource that would otherwise pollute the atmosphere, transforming it into useful energy. When landfill gas is collected and used for power generation, it displaces conventional, non-renewable fuels such as coal and natural gas, preventing more greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.
A Leading Source of Greenhouse Gas Offsets
Capital Power considers itself to be a leader in greenhouse gas emission offset project development and procurement, based on the volume of its purchase and retirement of offsets and diverse mix of offset projects.
In 2007 and 2008, the first two years that emission reductions were mandated in Alberta, Capital Power retired 34% and 21%, respectively, of all greenhouse gas emission offset credits in the Province. Capital Power has a significant portfolio of GHG offsets developed or under contract from sources such as landfill gas, low tillage agriculture and acid gas injection.
One of its most significant offset projects is the Clover Bar Landfill Gas facility. In 2008 alone, Capital Power retired 344,520 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2E) from Clover Bar LFG, making it the second-largest source of offsets retired in Alberta.