A new energy district in City Centre would be the perfect spot for a waste-to-energy incinerator, according to at least two Surrey councillors.
Coun. Marvin Hunt, a vocal proponent of waste-to-energy technology, said the new energy district in North Surrey would be an ideal location for the incinerator.
Surrey is creating a high-efficiency energy area in the downtown core which will include an elaborate piping system that will supply City Centre with thermal energy.
It's the kind of location Metro Vancouver favours for a waste-to-energy plant. The rationale is that heat produced by the facility can then be shared with nearby buildings, making heating extremely efficient.
"This is what I would envision... all of this working together," said Hunt, the former chair of the Metro Vancouver Waste Committee. He adds he's speaking strictly for himself.
Coun. Linda Hepner also supports a waste-to-energy option for North Surrey.
On her tour of Europe two years ago, she saw incinerators beside schools and in the hearts of cities.
She said she would "absolutely" support the City Centre as a location for a regional incinerator.
Hunt notes construction of such a plant wouldn't occur for some time.
First of all, the province needs to sign off on Metro Vancouver's decision to allow waste-to-energy facilities in the region.
Then comes the planning and bidding processes, which will take more time.
And strong resistance still remains in the eastern Fraser Valley, particularly in Abbotsford, where that city's council says its air shed will be sullied by the construction of incinerators.
The critics, Hunt said, need to see what has been accomplished in other areas of the world.
"Most of them cannot comprehend what has been done in Paris, They cannot comprehend it being right in the downtown," Hunt said. "At this point in time, my proposal would be we put it in industrial areas that surround the downtown, possibly just off the South Fraser Perimeter Road."
Energy can be piped in effectively from that distance, he said.
Creating a facility there also keeps garbage trucks from clogging roads in City Centre, which has been a concern of many of Hunt's colleagues.
Hunt believes provincial approval of incinerators likely won't occur until a new premier is chosen.
Mayor Dianne Watts said said it's much too early to have conversations about where such a facility might – or might not – go.
She says she's fully aware of incerator use in Paris and Copenhagen, but adds she's in no hurry to rush in behind them.
She points out there are a host of existing and future technologies which could turn out to be a better fit for the North Surrey District Energy area.
"There's a lot of technology out there, and I would not want to presuppose one over the other," Watts said.
kdiakiw@surreyleader.com