Residents who live near the old Mt. Herman landfill may have noticed construction traffic headed into and out of the previously dormant site during recent weeks. In a few months, when construction is complete, the public-private partnership to capture and destroy polluting greenhouse gases at the former landfill site officially will begin.
The project, announced in 2008, will tap methane gas from within the old landfill and burn it using flares. The initiative cuts the amount of harmful greenhouse gases that reach the atmosphere. At the same time, it will create valuable greenhouse gas offset credits for Internet search and applications leader Google, which operates a data center in Lenoir.
Chad Leatherwood with SCS Engineers, the construction contractor for the project, describes recent activity as the first phase of the project. Using a 36-inch auger, crews have drilled gas extraction wells. Next, a series of underground pipes will tie those wells to an existing methane flare, which will burn the methane and other organic compounds. Burning off the gas reduces the amount of pollution emitted from the landfill.
“Methane has about 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide,” Leatherwood said. “By turning the methane into carbon dioxide by burning it, you achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions.”
To quantify the greenhouse credits for Google, the methane gas collection and flaring will be measured using flow meters and temperature sensors, said David Belcher, of Greenhouse Gas Services LLC of Arlington, Va.
“We will take frequent methane concentration measurements,” he said. “That’s where it provides assurance to all the stakeholders that something good is happening.” While the effort has immediate benefits for the planet, through reducing greenhouse gases, it also helps Caldwell County in ongoing economic development efforts. Environmentally- responsible corporations such as Google often prefer to locate in communities where such partnerships are available and encouraged.“For the project owner, Caldwell County, there was a recognized need to expand the gas capture system,” Belcher said. “When you can align those interests, that’s what makes the project successful.”
The project also places Caldwell County in the forefront of a national drive to create “green” jobs and investment. Efforts to cut down on harmful methane emissions began several years ago when flares were brought to the Mt. Herman landfill site. The partnership, announced in 2008, will enable Caldwell County to expand the project even more.
Belcher estimates a 10-year project timeline based on the amount of methane that is estimated within the old landfill. The overall goal is to capture approximately 120,000 tons of methane. The Mt. Herman project is within a portfolio of greenhouse gas reduction projects by Greenhouse Gas Services LLC that includes other landfill gas collection and combustion systems, as well as animal waste digester systems.
Agreements allowing the start of project were finalized in January. Completion is expected late this spring.
Background data: Greenhouse Gas Services LLC (GHGS), a venture between GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE (NYSE: GE), and The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES), announced in September that it had signed a master agreement with Google to co-develop projects that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and produce GHG credits. As one of the first emissions reduction co-development projects in the United States, Greenhouse Gas Services (GHGS) will design, build and operate it. The project will use the GHGS Standard of Practice to govern the creation, management and retirement of the credits. Google will add these offsets to its carbon portfolio to advance its goal of company-wide carbon neutrality.For more information about this news release, or any other Caldwell County-related story, contact Public Information Officer Edward Terry at 828-759-7879 or eterry@caldwellcountync.org.
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