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GARBAGE IN, POWER & PROFIT OUT
<br />~ TRASH FRAM D1
<br />- ---- ------ SAY T1~ in11~1`r~~
<br />Biology, profits -and gov- '
<br />ernment subsidies -are driv- • The plant has fo~.u SOOkW
<br />ing the diversification of land- engine-generators.
<br />fills from sites strictly for cast- • It can output 27 million
<br />` .offs to providers of kilowatts. kilowatt-hours of electric-
<br />Three to five years after ity (enough for about 15
<br />garbage (separated from re- percent of Elk River's resi-
<br />cylables and ordinary trash) dentialneeds).
<br />is buried, natural microbes de- • There are more than 40
<br />,compose the organic materi- wells collectingmethanegas.
<br />al in the mounds of trash. The • The landfill gas generated
<br />process releases methane gas- is 52 percent methane, 47
<br />es that, in years past, simply percent carbon dio,dde, and
<br />were burned to avoid pollut- 1 percent other.
<br />ing the air.
<br />In Elk Ridge alone, Waste
<br />Management is sitting on 12 ty generation. T~'aste Manage-
<br />miIlion cubic yards of decay- ment recently bought into a
<br />ing garbage. landfill gas-to-electricity op-
<br />Some 50 acres of the landfill oration in Burnsville and has
<br />are dotted with wells to tap the run a similar site in Ells River
<br />gas. and pipes that crisscross since 2002.
<br />the site to deliver the meth- At the Elk River site, four
<br />ane to an area where it's com- Caterpillar generators scream
<br />pressed and filtered. behind closed doors in a cin-
<br />After the gas has been pros- der-block building near the
<br />essed, it becomes fuel for the landfill, which dates to the
<br />four electrical generators. mid-1970x. Twenty-five hun-
<br />Federaltax breaks, included dyed cubic feet of gas per rnin-
<br />in they latest energy bill, have ute, ported from the near-
<br />helped fuel the company's in- by landfill, keep the cylinders
<br />terest in gas-to-electric invest- pounding.
<br />ments. The 12 million cubic yards
<br />The bill, passed earlier this of garbage on hand are enough
<br />-year, for the first time offered to keep the generators turning
<br />a tax break worth $10 for ev- for another 20 to 30 years, said
<br />cry megawatt hour of electric- Debra Walters, Waste Manage-
<br />. ity produced by landfill gases. ment district manager. Mean-
<br />While less generous than the while, new truckloads of gar-
<br />. $19-per-megawatthouroffered bage continue to show up at
<br />to wind turbine investors, at the site.
<br />Spruce Ridge the subsidy adds "It's a constant source of
<br />up to an extra $200,000 a year, electricity," she said.
<br />Pabor said. Walters might have add-
<br />"That gave enough return ed that the owner of the sole
<br />for our investment so we were wind turbine, looming across
<br />able to hit our return on cap- the street from the landfill,
<br />ital targets," he said. The tax can't say the sanze. Can aver-
<br />.. break will add 2 or 3 percent- age, wind turbines, prisoner to
<br />.age points to Waste Manage- changes in the breeze, produce
<br />ment's return on capital,' he electricity about 40 percent of
<br />added. the time.
<br />The $2.4 million investment
<br />in Spruce Ridge represents Mike Meyers • 612-G73-11x6
<br />an accelerating interest in us-
<br />ing landfill gases far electrici-,
<br />~"~~~~~.. ~..~)D~~.~. ~sl~~ ~~~~~ ~~l E.I.
<br />Gas extraction wells are used to collect methane gas that is
<br />generated as the waste decorrlposes. The gas is used to produce
<br />energy or is sent to a landfill gas disposal facility.
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