Biomass Heat Generation
Rather than burning wood waste, we use a thermochemical gasification process to create a synthetic gas that will be burned to produce heat. The input "chemicals" for thermochemical gasification - wood, water and air - are heated in a low-air environment until the wood undergoes gaseous decomposition. The resulting gaseous products are then scrubbed and cleaned and burned to produce heat for a heating water boiler. The boiler will supply the majority of Dockside heating requirements with some peak load supplied by the backup/peaking gas boilers.
No smoke is produced in the process- just green energy and clean, odourless flue gases. To avoid noise disturbances the gasification plant and the engines will be housed in an acoustically isolated building and the entire system will be backed up by natural gas boilers.
The system is owned by Vancity, Corix and Terasen Gas and was manufactured by Nexterra Energy Corp. Individual buildings are be charged for heat generated by the system for building heating and domestic hot water needs. Heat will also be sold to off-site customers displacing natural gas use. The net result is that Dockside Green is expected to be greenhouse gas positive from a building energy perspective. A centralized biomass system solidifies Dockside Green's reputation as a global leader in sustainable design and garners significant international attention given the rising concerns over climate change.
For more information on the biomass gasification system click here to read the Project Profile by Nexterra Energy
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