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Turning trash into electricity

Mauri Rapp Abington Journal Correspondent

By the end of this year, thousands of homes may get their electricity courtesy of a renewable energy initiative at Alliance Sanitary Landfill. Located in Taylor and Ransom, the landfill has been owned by Waste Management since 1998.

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Above, a temporary flare used to burn methane gas at Alliance Sanitary Landfill. Once the landfill’s gas-to-electricity project goes online, these flares will be used as backups to the gas processors.

Abington Journal Photo/ Mauri Rapp

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According to Alliance’s community relations coordinator, John Hambrose, the renewable energy project will involve converting the methane gas that is produced by the waste in the landfill into electricity. The amount of methane gas produced by the landfill is enough to provide 20 megawatts of electricity, which could power as many as 20,000 homes. Alliance is partnering with PEI Power Corporation and UGI Utilities/ Penn Natural Gas for this project.

The process begins as the waste buried within the landfill undergoes an anaerobic conversion into methane gas. Approximately half of decomposed organic matter naturally converts into methane. This methane gas is then drawn out of the waste mass by large compression pumps, which Hambrose compared to “giant Shop Vacs,” and pumped to an onsite facility that will cleanse the methane gas and ready it for transmission. The product is then sent via a 19-mile long pipeline to PEI’s facility in Archbald, which then converts the gas into electricity.

“This isn’t like fossil fuel,” said Hambrose. “This is energy that is renewable.”

So renewable, in fact, that Hambrose said the waste would continue to produce methane for up to 20 years after the landfill is closed. Alliance is currently in the process of seeking approval from the DEP to expand its landfill by 87.6 acres, which would allow the site an additional 20 years of operating life. “If we’re approved for our expansion project, we could feasibly provide this renewable energy for up to 40 years,” said Hambrose.

As recently as 2003, Alliance Sanitary Landfill outsourced its methane gas to another company that operated on-site to distribute the methane into the local natural gas supply. Since then, Alliance has burned its methane gas with the help of 300 gas wells, as is required by the DEP if methane is not being converted into renewable energy. After five years of searching for a company that had the need for energy on a constant basis and the capabilities to install the necessary pipelines, Alliance formed a partnership with PEI and UGI/PNG.

Putting the project online will not only mean hard labor, however, but also cutting through some red tape. In April, the DEP granted Alliance Sanitary Landfill a permit to construct a processing plant that will be necessary for the methane-to-electricity operation. And in May, the DEP granted permission for the landfill to build three additional methane gas flares to serve as a backup for the methane-to-electricity project. Throughout this summer, construction contractors will be busy moving gas flares and building the processing area for the onsite portion of the project.

According to the DEP, Alliance Sanitary Landfill’s methane-to-electricity project will join more than 24 current methane-to-electricity projects in Pennsylvania. These initiatives have been strongly supported by the state government, which has invested more than $3 million in grant funding for the programs. Alliance’s parent company, Waste Management, currently has more than 100 “beneficial-use” gas projects in North America, which according to the company’s web site provides enough energy to power about 400,000 homes, thus replacing approximately two million tons of coal each year. Waste Management’s renewable energy projects are part of a large sustainable growth goal set by the company to be achieved by 2020. These goals also includes managing more than 20 million tons of recyclables each year, providing more than 25,000 acres of wildlife habitat at the company’s landfills, and reducing company truck emissions by 15 percent. “I’m proud that Alliance is part of this initiative,” said Hambrose. “Because we are part of what Waste Management talks about.”

Taylor will benefit from the project, too. The borough will receive a minimum of $50,000 annually from Alliance Sanitary Landfill beginning in 2011 as part of their host agreement; if the landfill’s expansion project is approved, that amount will increase to $150,000. “This is a tremendous project that will benefit the environment,” Hambrose said. “But our local government will benefit as well.” The project is expected to go online in November of this year.