Golden garbage: LaGrange (GA) sells methane, turns dump into dollars

[jpak]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0814garbage.html

LaGrange — Long black tubes snake into a small mountain of rotting garbage, slowly sucking natural gas out of the gradually sinking pit.

Years ago, the west Georgia landfill would have leaked into the air tons of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Yet with the help of an industrial partner, progressive city leaders have transformed this trash pit into a new revenue stream and a source of renewable energy.

Larger trash dumps across the nation are required by the Environmental Protection Agency to capture the methane gas that is given off as the trash decomposes. But as the tubes plumbing the LaGrange landfill suggest, even the smallest community can voluntarily convert teeming trash heaps into a green — yet revenue-generating — venture.

The idea came about in 2001, when executives from carpet manufacturer Interface were searching for an alternative fuel source for the petroleum-intensive manufacturing processes used in making carpet. The company contacted LaGrange officials about converting the city's bloated landfill into a clean, cheap way to conserve energy.

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