By: | GoDanRiver.com
Published: February 21, 2012 Updated: February 21, 2012 - 5:50 PM
MARTINSVILLE, VA --
With the turn of a switch and the push of a few buttons, the Martinsville's methane generator is online at the city landfill, where they're literally turning trash into treasure.
It sounds like a jet engine, but the machine is converting methane gas into electricity.
So where does the methane come from? Garbage is buried underneath the ground of the now closed landfill. Wells extract the gas and send it to the generator.
Assistant Director of Public Works, Jeff Joyce says the 20-cylinder generator is a huge benefit to the environment.
"The methane we're removing from the atmosphere, it's a green house gas and it's a very potent green house gas. By burning it either in a flare or through this generator, you're changing it from methane to carbon dioxide,” said Joyce.
They're also training workers on how to maintain the expensive machine.
A federal energy grant through the Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy paid one million dollars of it, while the city kicked in another $1.5 million.
But Joyce says it'll save them an estimated $400,000-500,000 per year.
Read more:
http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/feb/21/martinsville-landfill-turns-trash-treasure-ar- 1705674/
Published: February 21, 2012 Updated: February 21, 2012 - 5:50 PM
MARTINSVILLE, VA --
With the turn of a switch and the push of a few buttons, the Martinsville's methane generator is online at the city landfill, where they're literally turning trash into treasure.
It sounds like a jet engine, but the machine is converting methane gas into electricity.
So where does the methane come from? Garbage is buried underneath the ground of the now closed landfill. Wells extract the gas and send it to the generator.
Assistant Director of Public Works, Jeff Joyce says the 20-cylinder generator is a huge benefit to the environment.
"The methane we're removing from the atmosphere, it's a green house gas and it's a very potent green house gas. By burning it either in a flare or through this generator, you're changing it from methane to carbon dioxide,” said Joyce.
They're also training workers on how to maintain the expensive machine.
A federal energy grant through the Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy paid one million dollars of it, while the city kicked in another $1.5 million.
But Joyce says it'll save them an estimated $400,000-500,000 per year.
Read more:
http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/feb/21/martinsville-landfill-turns-trash-treasure-ar- 1705674/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.