The Nanaimo Regional District plans to buy more electric vehicles, develop a plan to protect certain forested areas and examine whether compressed natural gas can be harvested from the local landfill.
Those are some of the initiatives outlined in the RDN's Climate Action Revenue Incentive Report for 2011. Regional districts must complete these reports in order to recoup money from the province on what they paid in carbon fuel tax last year.
Projects and ideas outlined in the report demonstrate how the RDN will continue working toward carbon-neutral operations in 2012, said Chris Midgley, manager of energy and sustainability. Some of the new initiatives build on current projects to generate cleaner energy at the Cedar Road landfill and other facilities. The RDN has already been successfully harvesting bio gas at the landfill to produce electricity. Now, it plans to examine whether the methane from decomposing waste can be captured and refined into compressed natural gas, a more environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline or diesel.
Midgley said the possibility exists to produce enough gas to power a single vehicle that would operate at the landfill. But he stressed that it's not yet clear if such a project is feasible.
He added that the RDN will also be looking at ways to boost the amount of electricity produced at the landfill this year by using more efficient methods of harvesting the bio gas.
The RDN is also looking at ways to prevent deforestation on private lands. There are many forested areas that are zoned for residential development, where landowners are entitled to harvest the trees. Midgley said there's an opportunity to reach agreements with these landowners, which might include incentives of some sort, to protect the forests for the long-term.
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