UNH becomes first university in nation to use landfill gas as primary ene...(a major landfill gas-to-energy initiativ...)

Date:9/13/2007

a major landfill gas-to-energy initiative that will result in the creation of an additional 60 renewable energy facilities. In total, Waste Management will generate more than 700 megawatts of clean renewable energy enough to power 700,000 homes or replace over eight million barrels of oil. A pioneer in landfill gas-to-energy projects, Waste Management designed and operated its first such facility in the U.S. more than 20 years ago. With 281 landfills in North America and more than 100 already having landfill gas-to-energy projects underway, Waste Management is in a unique position to expand waste-based renewable power generation across the country. Waste Management currently has two landfill gas-to-electric plants at TREE producing green power for over 9,000 homes which will continue to operate, while excess gas will be sent to UNHs new renewable energy project.

Once construction on EcoLine is completed, the pipeline will not be visible, running four feet underground along Rochester roads, the Spaulding Turnpike, and the Pan Am Railways right-of-way onto UNH property. At UNH, landfill gas will replace commercial natural gas in UNHs cogeneration (co-gen) plant, the primary source of heat and electricity for the five million square-foot Durham campus. The co-gen plant, which began operations in 2006, captures waste heat normally lost during the production of electricity and uses this energy to heat campus buildings, making more efficient use of energy resources.

More importantly, the landfill gas will stabilize the universitys fluctuating energy costs, which have doubled in the last five years and grown at an annual rate of 18.9 percent.

EcoLine will also have a major impact on UNHs carbon dioxide emissions. It will reduce the universitys greenhouse gas emissions an estimated 67 percent below 2005 levels and 57 percent below 1990 levels.

Landfill gas is a naturally occurring by-product of landfill decomposition. Waste Management
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Contact: Beth Potier beth.potier@unh.edu 603-862-1566 University of New Hampshire Source:Eurekalert

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