Landfill-to-energy facility closer to reality

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Aug 21, 2009 by Ann Marie Bush

By Ann Marie Bush

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Waste Management and Westar Energy took one step closer Thursday morning to the completion of building a landfill gas-to-energy facility at Rolling Meadows Landfill.

Seven Cat 3516 engines were hefted over the walls of the new plant at 9 a.m. at the landfill, 7351 N.W. US-75 highway.

"The big step was getting the engines," said Jason Chan, district manager for Rolling Meadows.

The landfill gas-to-energy facility is the first of its kind in Kansas, Chan said.

The cost of the facility north of Topeka will be more than $12 million, Chan said.

In 2007, Waste Management set a goal of developing up to 60 landfill gas-to-energy projects at its landfills by 2012. Plans for Topeka's facility began about two years ago, Chan said.

Waste Management is North America's largest operator of LFGTE facilities, Chan said, with renewable energy projects at 112 of its landfills.

"This equipment is the heart of the plant," Chan said.

The plant will produce up to six megawatts of energy, which is enough to power the equivalent of up to 6,000 homes.

Landfill gas, produced when micro-organisms break down organic material in the landfill, is composed of about 50 percent to 60 percent methane and 40 percent to 50 percent carbon dioxide.

At most landfills in the United States, including Rolling Meadows, the methane is simply burned off. LFGTE facilities use methane gas to power generators, offsetting power otherwise generated by fossil fuel.

Ann Marie Bush can be reached

at (785) 295-1207

or ann.bush@cjonline.com.