Presented in collaboration with the Canadian Biogas Association
Focus
Municipalities can create new revenue streams, generate renewable energy, and support local sustainability goals by incorporating biogas & renewable natural gas (RNG) into municipal waste management. Biogas & RNG are proven technologies for municipal landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, and as an option to manage green bin waste.
The CBA will introduce a new Municipal Biogas Self-Assessment tool that enables municipalities to explore the requirements for successful projects and identify what type of information they need to gather to start the assessment for a project. There will be a moderated discussion related to real world municipal projects and an introduction to possible funding streams for municipalities looking to pursue biogas & RNG projects.
Moderator
Jennifer Green, Executive Director, Canadian Biogas Association
Jennifer Green leads the Canadian Biogas Association and is focused on expanding opportunities for biogas & renewable natural gas (RNG) in Canada. Jennifer connects public and private sector people in commercial, municipal, and agricultural industries to build strategic and sustainable relationships to grow biogas & RNG in Canada. Jennifer fosters an open dialogue with industry and government on matters relating to policy, research, technology, and economic barriers and solutions to advance development of biogas and RNG projects. Jennifer is an engineer and an experienced educator. She is intimately familiar with the biogas & RNG sector and is passionate about advocating for best practices, policies, and programs that fit industry needs.
Speakers
Michael Cant, Principal, GHD
Michael is a Principal at GHD and Waste Management Market Lead in Ontario and has over 30 years of waste industry consulting experience. His main focus has been assisting municipalities and private industry with the planning, approvals and design of waste management facilities. Over his 30-year career, he has successfully completed planning and approvals for organics processing facilities, landfills, transfer stations and recycling and energy from waste facilities.
Indra Maharjan, Director, Corporate Facilities, Energy and Infrastructure, City of Hamilton
Indra Maharjan, P. Eng, CEM, CMVP, is an innovative municipal leader with an extensive history in design and delivery of strategic infrastructure projects that adopts principals of energy conservation and generation and climate change resiliency. He has led and delivered multiple complex projects that requires extensive stakeholder and public engagement and funded by federal and provincial partners through alternate delivery models.
Indra has extensive knowledge of the energy market and municipal landscape and has worked with more than 220 municipalities across the province while working with the Ontario Clean Water Agency. He is avid volunteer in many industry association and dedicates his spare time to mentor internationally trained graduates with their career planning. Indra is also recognised as Top 25 Canadian Immigrant in 2021 for his contributions.
Ben Henderson, Former City Councillor, former GMF Chair, City of Edmonton
Ben Henderson served on Edmonton City Council from 2007-2021 as Councillor for Ward 8, the central southside. He currently serves as co-chair of End Poverty Edmonton. While at the City he led initiatives that created the City’s Poverty Elimination Strategy, the Winter City Strategy, the Public Engagement Strategy, and the Energy Transition Strategy.
He also served for ten years as Chair of the Utility Committee which gave him a strong background in regulation, for six years as Chair of the Inter City Forum on Social Policy and for four years on the Canada Council on the Social Determinants of Health.
For seven years, Ben served as the Chair of the Green Municipal Fund, a 1.7-billion-dollar endowment/revolving loan fund within the Federation of Canadian Municipalities entrusted by the Federal Government to help municipalities improve their environmental sustainability.