August 1, 2012 Vol. 8, No. 16
 

Let’s start with very interesting news out of Quebec, where Gaz Métro announced yesterday the first public liquefied biomethane fuelling station at Rivière-du-Loup. An agreement made with and/or supported by about a zillion government bodies will see the gas company buy the liquefied biomethane produced by an anaerobic digestion plant — that means landfill waste is the source — in the eastern Quebec city and will operate the fuelling station to serve the heavy truck market.
 

This marks a new stage in the ‘Blue Road’ project, which supplies liquefied natural gas in the corridor between regions of Quebec and Greater Toronto, a busy truck route. Transport Robert has been a key part of the plan, buying some 180 natural-gas trucks to run that corridor backed by supply agreements with Gaz Metro. 
 

As well as being the first public station, unlike the two other fuelling sites serving the Blue Road, the one in Rivière-du-Loup will also be the first to distribute a renewable fuel. The Québec government says it’s serious about the development of LNG for commercial transportation, and this new effort offers ample proof. Biomethane is a natural gas equivalent.
 

The agreement has Gaz Metro Transport Solutions undertaking to buy all the liquefied biomethane produced by the Rivière-du-Loup plant for a minimum of 20 years. 
 

The annual production of liquefied biomethane at the new plant is estimated at 3 million m3, which will lead to savings in GHG emissions of more than 7000 tonnes, says Gaz Metro. It adds that the use of biomethane as an alternative to diesel fuel by heavy trucks translates into a reduction of GHGs in the order of 85%.