The Power of Landfill

By Sam Taber McNeil

September 10, 2008

www.citiesgogreen.com

Greenville County in South Carolina will join businesses to cooperatively turn trash into treasure. The Enoree Landfill Gas to Energy Green Power Project will capture gas produced by the decaying county landfill and convert it into electricity through two Caterpillar engines. The county, Greenville Gas Producers LLC, Duke Energy Carolinas and Blanchard Machinery Company hope to produce the 3.2 megawatts a year - equivalent of 2,000 homes annual energy needs - with the trash to energy project.

"Landfill gas, largely methane, is produced when oGrganic materials in large landfills decompose," reports Stockwatch. "This greenhouse gas is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. It is a major contributor to global warming. Methane gas must be burned as a waste product or captured and used as a fuel.

Speaking on the Enoree Project, Butch Kirven, chairman of the Greenville County Council tod Stockwatch that ""The County of Greenville is dedicated to improving the air quality of our environment and our community."

"By combining the benefits of carbon destruction, power production, and the added sale of carbon credits," Kirven said, "this project will be an asset to the community for decades to come."