Walker Industries: Advancing Renewable Energy Innovations

Located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, Walker Industries Holdings Ltd (Walker) operates as a conglomerate focused on the effective construction and management of energy initiatives. The company offers a range of high-performance construction materials and services, including emulsions, organics recovery, waste management, renewable energy, and more. Serving various industries, Walker has grown into a solutions-oriented enterprise, dedicated to empowering and bolstering communities through its operations. The company addresses challenges with optimism, viewing them as chances to address the changing requirements of clients, particularly with an eye on environmental sustainability. Graham Guest, the General Manager of Walker’s Energy and Technical Services division, provides a glimpse into the organization’s rich history.

“Walker has been a family-owned entity for six generations, with active engagements in the aggregates, industrial emulsions, and environmental services sectors. It began in 1887 when we acquired a limestone quarry in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Our Energy and Technical Services division, among others, still operates out of this location. In 1970, we entered the waste management sector by opening a modest industrial landfill, which marked our initial foray into this field. Since then, Walker has inaugurated two more landfills in Niagara, ranking among the largest in Ontario. By 1974, we expanded into the emulsions sector by acquiring a local company specializing in asphalt emulsion manufacturing and application, which has evolved into Walker Emulsions. This unit now supplies wax-based emulsions to industries producing board materials like OSB, MDF, gypsum board, and fiberglass insulation from our plants in Burlington, ON, Portland, OR, and Orangeburg, SC. In 1996, we launched Integrated Municipal Services—now a part of Walker Environmental—to manage Niagara’s residential leaf and yard waste collection. From that point, our business in organics composting and mulch has grown significantly, making Walker Canada’s premier organics processor,” he states.

Sustainable Innovations

“Our venture into renewable energy commenced around the turn of the millennium with the setup of a landfill gas collection and flaring system at our eastern Niagara landfill. We enlisted Comcor Environmental for this initial system and subsequently forged a partnership lasting over two decades. Following this, Walker became one of the major carbon credit traders in Canada, providing options for air travelers to offset their carbon emissions through Air Canada’s voluntary emissions reduction credits. We then advanced into the renewable electricity market by creating several landfill-gas-to-electricity projects across the province. Currently, we run a direct-use project with General Motors, channeling landfill gas via a 3.5-kilometer pipeline to their engine and transmission plant in St. Catharines, Ontario. We’ve also expanded our expertise in landfill gas energy by launching a renewable natural gas (RNG) facility that is set to produce nearly one million gigajoules annually from landfill-generated gas. Altogether, we generate about 32 megawatts of power from landfill gas,” adds Graham.

Advancing Clean Energy

Delving deeper, Graham discusses the motivation behind Walker’s development of its RNG facility. “With increasing waste, the volume of landfill gas also grows. Our aim has always been to utilize all collected gas, avoiding wasteful burning and the associated emissions from flaring operations. While we already produce electricity from this gas, our goal with the RNG facility is to significantly cut down on carbon emissions by replacing fossil natural gas with methane derived from our landfill, which has a substantially lower carbon footprint. This facility marks a significant stride in reducing societal carbon emissions,” he explains.

Graham details the operations within the RNG facility at Walker’s site, where it produces clean energy for its clientele. “Processing 4000 standard cubic feet per minute, our landfill gas to RNG plant, under a 20-year agreement, transforms raw landfill gas into low-carbon RNG. Employing conventional gas separation technologies like membranes and pressure swing adsorption, the process initiates at a central landfill gas collection and distribution station. After several phases of purification and separation, the gas is made moisture-free and injected into the regional natural gas network, serving North American customers,” he describes.

Leading the Transition

Reflecting on the RNG plant’s impact, Graham shares insights on the broader energy transition. “Despite the buzz around hydrogen, it remains several years from meaningful, widespread deployment. The RNG market provides crucial lessons on technology readiness, market creation, regulatory structures, and investment approaches, guiding us through the transition. Essentially, RNG helps pave the way for future technologies such as hydrogen, much like how wind and solar have laid the groundwork for RNG,” he continues.

Looking forward, Graham outlines Walker’s plans for the immediate and distant future. “In 2024, we’re focused on enhancing our new RNG facility, alongside maximizing resource recovery and developing value-added products from our waste streams. The current RNG plant is set to double its production to nearly two million gigajoules by 2027. We are also working to extend our Power Purchase Agreements to continue our landfill-gas-to-electricity projects,” he concludes.

With over a century of operations, Walker has emerged as a leader in North America’s waste management and renewable energy sectors. As the globe shifts towards renewable resources, Walker is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping a sustainable, low-carbon future, achieving its ambitious targets in RNG production and landfill gas utilization.

www.walkerind.com