By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | November 05, 2009
A bulldozer moves trash into place Friday at the Potrero Hills Landfill. Methane gas created by the buried garbage will be used to power gas turbines that are planned for the facility. Photo by Brad Zweerink
FAIRFIELD - Potrero Hills Landfill will become home to a new project seeking to salvage some value from heaps of decaying garbage.
Folsom-based Waste Connections Inc. has entered into an arrangement with DTE Biomass Energy to establish gas-to-energy operations at the landfill.
'The waste generates methane (gas) as it decomposes and we capture that from a system of wells and pipes and redirect it to gas turbines,' said Jim Little, senior vice president of engineering and disposal.
Methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas, is currently burned off to comply with air quality regulations.
Although the equipment represents a substantial investment, its installation won't require much of a makeover to the landfill, Little said. There will be a small building with a generator inside. At the start, the expectation is that the project will produce eight megawatts of power. But getting that building built could still take some time.
'I think it would be overly optimistic to think it would be in late 2010,' Little said. 'Pretty surely sometime in early 2011, though.
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