Jun 20 2012
Green energy will soon be helping to power homes, following Waste Management's announcement today on the groundbreaking of a gas-to-electric facility at Geneva Landfill in Ashtabula County, Ohio.
Once construction is completed, Waste Management Geneva Landfill's gas plant is designed to generate 6.4 megawatts of electricity, enough to power over 6,000 homes. The plant will be operational by the end of this year.
Methane gas, which is produced in the landfill from the decomposition of waste, will be channeled into engines that are used to create electricity. The electricity generated at Waste Management Geneva Landfill will go into the electrical power grid.
"Waste Management is committed to the investments and innovative technology required to bring a state-of-the-art facility like this to the Ashtabula County area," said Jerry Ross, Senior District Manager for Waste Management Geneva Landfill. "By converting waste into energy to power homes, this "green energy" plant represents the best of having tomorrow's technology here and now."
The U.S. EPA has endorsed landfill gas as an environmentally friendly resource that reduces reliance on coal, oil and other fossil fuels. Like wind and solar power, landfill gas is a resource that can be harnessed to produce energy and has many benefits and advantages compared to fossil fuels and other alternative energy sources.
Waste Management owns or operates over 130 landfill gas-to-energy facilities in North America. Waste Management pioneered landfill-gas-to-energy technology over two decades ago and operates more facilities than any other company in the United States.
In 2007, Waste Management announced four sustainability goals, which included increasing the amount of waste-based energy produced. Currently, the company creates enough energy to power 1.1 million homes, and it is looking to double to reach two million by 2020. Geneva Landfill is a step in accomplishing this goal and represents another source of renewable energy. Waste Management is the leading provider of integrated waste management services and one of the largest residential recyclers in North America.