The Watauga County Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency's Landfill Methane Outreach Program with a Project of the Year award. The county's self-developed project uses gas from the landfill to generate electricity in two retrofitted automotive internal combustion engines.
The generated electricity is used to power the landfill facility with green energy and excess electricity is sold to Duke Energy. Between the electric bill savings and revenue from electricity and green power sales, the county earns more than $70,000 per year from the project.
The project was developed in collaboration with the following partners:
— Watauga County
— Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, which provided technical assistance, oversight of project and supplied all of the equipment for the connection to grid
— Appalachian Energy Center at Appalachian State University, which provided project management support, research, waste heat utilization design and negotiated the power purchase agreement with Duke Energy
— KSD Enterprises, which provided engine design and installation and technical assistance
— McGee Environmental, which provided landfill gas technical assistance and equipment installation
— Larry Greer Electric, which provided all of the interior and exterior electrical wiring
— T3 Automation, which provided switch gear design and installation
— Carlson Environmental Consultants, which provided the gas line installation and the connections to engines
— U.S. Buildings, which provided the building design and installation and donated the concrete pad for the building
— EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program, which provided consultation and technical support for the partners
For more information on the recent award and landfill gas energy, visit the EPA's LMOP website at http://www.epa.gov/lmop
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