Murray Wood: Who's being fooled this April 1?
Murray Wood says every day is April Fools Day in the disinformation age and, as ever, some people will never believe the...
Regina’s airport is looking to get a whole lot greener over the next seven years.
On Tuesday, SaskEnergy and the Regina Airport Authority announced they’ve reached an agreement for a pilot project that will use new technology at the airport which could reduce greenhouse gas emissions pumped out by the main system at the Regina airport by 20 per cent.
The device being used is called the CarbinX small-scale carbon-capture system, which has been manufactured by the company CleanO2 in Calgary. It’s the first time the device is being used for a building in Saskatchewan.
SaskEnergy put $40,000 towards the purchase of the device, while the Regina Airport Authority contributed $11,000 to have the system installed.
Regina Airport Authority president and CEO James Bogusz is hopeful the project can help the airport reach its environmental goals.
“We’re very proud to be doing the right thing for the environment (and) organization, and to help promote other organizations following suit,” he said. “The Regina airport as a whole obviously has to use energy, and much like other businesses, we’re looking to conserve those resources to the best of our ability.”
The Regina Airport Authority’s board of directors set a goal a couple years ago that would see the airport cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
Bogusz said this project should make it a lot easier to reach that 2030 target.
“Because of this technology, we’re going to see a savings of seven to 14 per cent. That is a wow! To be honest, I would’ve been thrilled with two to three per cent,” Bogusz said.
“That would’ve not only helped us with cost reduction but saved with CO2 emissions. This is going to go a long way to actually hitting that 2030 target.”
The CarbinX device works by capturing a portion of the carbon dioxide emissions from the airport’s terminal building’s boiler heating system and converting it into non-toxic pearl ash (potassium carbonate).
From there, the pearl ash can actually be used to make carbon-capture soap and other cleaning products. That product can then be given out to the community and airport guests.
Bogusz mentioned airport officials will continue to look at ways to help reduce carbon emissions, but notes they will need to do it in a way that doesn’t compromise the safety, security or growth of the airport.
