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FortisBC teams with Dicklands Farms to produce Renewable Natural Gas from agricultural waste

FortisBC Energy Inc. (FortisBC) is adding more Renewable Natural Gas (RNG)1 to its system by teaming with Dicklands Farms in Chilliwack, British Columbia (B.C.), who is producing RNG from agricultural and food waste. Once the project is at peak production, it is expected to produce enough low-carbon2 RNG to meet the annual gas needs of approximately 2,000 B.C. homes.

"With Dicklands Farms and the existing Fraser Valley Biogas project, the residents of the Fraser Valley can be proud of how much their community is helping advance a lower-carbon future in B.C.," said Jenelle De La Cour, manager, Renewable Gas accounts with FortisBC. "The more RNG we have, the less conventional natural gas we need. Every RNG project is a win for climate action."

When bacteria break down organic waste from sources such as landfills, agricultural farms and wastewater from treatment facilities, it produces a biogas mostly made of methane. FortisBC works with local farms, landfills, green energy companies and municipalities to capture and purify this methane, which would otherwise escape into the atmosphere, to create RNG for its customers. As RNG mixes seamlessly into the existing natural gas infrastructure, it decarbonizes the natural gas supply, displaces equivalent volumes of conventional natural gas and lowers greenhouse gas emissions overall.

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Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.