Canadian companies win funding to boost on-farm RNG

Three Canadian companies have been selected to advance technologies that improve the business case for the on-farm production of renewable natural gas in British Columbia.

The companies have been selected by Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre and BE Bioenergy Network (BCBN) as finalists in the ARCTIC Innovation challenge. They will receive funding and support to advance their technology solutions aimed at converting the by-products associated with anaerobic digestion into commercially viable products.

“Selecting three winners for a joint sprint and field trial phase has never been done before in the ARCTIC Challenge program,” said Neil Huff, Foresight’s Founder & Director.

The ARCTIC Challenge for RNG was launched in December 2017. At the time, Huff noted that only three agricultural facilities in British Columbia were producing and utilising RNG. “By applying innovative solutions for turning waste into something of value, we hope more farmers in BC will participate in this growing market opportunity.”

The three winning companies are Muddy River Technologies, CH Four and BioPolynet, and Trident Processes.

Muddy River Technologies is aiming to provide a ‘cost-effective’ technology to improve the nutrient extraction process for phosphorus and nitrogen using biochar.

CH Four and BioPolynet is looking to provide an organic substitute for polymer that is used to extract the nutrients from sludge produced during the anaerobic digestion phase.

Trident Processes provides drier and nutrient granularisation technologies.

For the next ten months, the finalists will work with Seabreeze Farm in Delta BC to develop their technology solutions across the RNG and nutrient recovery supply chaing.

“For the last several years, we have been producing RNG and supplying it to FortisBC’s grid to supply the local market in BC,” said Jerry Keulen, owner, Seabreeze Farm.

“We are looking forward to working with these companies to optimise our current system and improve our business case.”

Meanwhile, Neil Huff, Foresight’s founder and director, said: “This kind of collaboration between technology providers is exactly what we need to fully realise the benefits of their solutions across the entire RNG and nutrient recovery supply chain.”