Delta council last week granted preliminary rezoning approval for a large-scale cannabis greenhouse in East Ladner to build a new bio-methane gas processing facility at its site.
The facility at the Pure Sunfarms operation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Village Farms, would convert gases from the Vancouver Landfill to bio-methane for distribution to FortisBC's gas distribution network.
The product is marketed as renewable natural gas (RNG).
The proposed facility would also be used in the Village Farms greenhouse operation.
A Delta staff report notes the facility in the Agricultural Land Reserve would have the capability of removing approximately 35,000 metric tonnes carbon dioxide per year from the landfill to Village Farms for use in its greenhouse operation, thereby enhancing the environmental benefits of the project and carbon footprint of the greenhouse operation.
Village Farms currently owns the rights to a portion of the landfill gas collected at the landfill and uses the gas to fuel a co-generation plant at the greenhouse facility, but the company is currently decommissioning the co-generation facility that had been in operation since 2002.
The report notes the city’s Climate Action and Environment department has reviewed the RNG proposal and note that the proposed facility does not burn the gas, thereby reducing on-site emissions of air contaminants and the local environmental impact of the existing co-generation facility.
The ability to use the carbon dioxide portion of the landfill gas in the greenhouse to supplement plant growth is also a significant improvement over the existing co-generation process, the report notes.
The Village Farms notes the new facility will significantly reduce the operation's reliance on natural gas to produce CO2 in their operations.
The application also requires approval from the Agricultural Land Commission and provincial agriculture ministry.
The facility would operate alongside a proposed FortisBC facility that would be located directly on the landfill.
