A short story posted today on WRAL.com describes how Durham has entered into an agreement to install internal combustion engines and generators at their landfill. Duke Energy will subsequently buy the power generated which is estimated to be sufficient to serve 1600 homes.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Thursday that a deal with Methane Power Inc. will allow Charlotte-based Duke Energy to begin buying up to two megawatts of power generated by the landfill beginning next year.
- WRAL.com: Duke to turn Durham landfill gas into electricity, 8/7/08
Wouldn't it be nice if Orange County did something similar (which a number of OP posters have been advocating for over the last several years) and then specifically directed the funds generated by the sale of those rights to improvements to the Rogers Road community? It would at least be a start to repaying those folks for the sacrifices they have borne.
I hope that one or more (hopefully all) of our Orange County Commissioners might give this idea some serious consideration since it seems that Durham, Methane Power, and Duke Energy have thought through it enough to think it is economically feasible.
Issues:
Comments
This certainly sounds
I found more information
I found more information about this on the Reuters news site. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS180341+07-Aug-2008+PRN20080807 The deal is expected to cost Duke Energy customers less than 10 cents per year. I think the key is whether it is economically feasible for a company like Methane Power to put the necessary equipment out there to collect it, but hey, we don't know till we ask, right?
Wake county has been selling
Dumb question
interesting question
First, look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_flare
Methane is a nasty gas to just vent, really is. Much better to burn it off.
If you can get enough of it and in a relatively constant flow, you could with some effort and engineering collect it and pressurize it. This is far tougher to do in practice than in theory. But it's natural gas, after all, and could be used to run a piston or turbine for power generation. Unfortunately, and like most energy issues, the cost of doing this sort of thing (which seems to the lay person to be a no-brainer) can often be many times the immediate economic benefit. This is why you see the gas flares at refineries and so forth, and one considers the "waste" but in fact there's little to no gain possible, from an economic perspective, in attempting to recover this waste energy.
How is it that collecting
It's not true that it's not profitable
This covers all I know of
This covers all I know of the project, but there is a deal in the works.
http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2008/04/16/City/Landfill.Gas.To.Create.Electricity.For.Orange.County-3327598.shtml
Landfill gas to create electricity for Orange County
By: Max Rose, Assistant City Editor
The Orange County Board of Commissioners granted county and University officials permission to move forward on developing a final contract that will address engineering, commercial and legal issues.
"We do believe this will be a win-win for the University and the county," UNC Director of Energy Services Ray DuBose said.
The county and University came before the board Tuesday for the first time since they entered into a memorandum of understanding for the partnership Jan. 17.
With the development of Carolina North expected soon, the University is anticipating a need to fully utilize the program by about 2013.
The capital cost of the project is estimated at $5.5 million. The University and county anticipate a contract of at least 20 years.
"The partnership has prevailed," said Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey.
I'm happy - but disappointed
As published in the Chapel Hill News yesterday
UNC, county close to gas deal
(http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/16245.html)
the County and UNC are finalizing the terms of a deal in which UNC would obtain the rights to the methane produced by the landfill for generation of power for Carolina North. While I'm happy to see that this source of energy is being utilized and not simply burned off to no one's advantage I'm disappointed that the County did not do more to see if they could have gotten a better deal for this increasingly more valuable asset as evidenced by a quote from Gayle Wilson, the County's solid waste director, in the CHN article:
"Since we didn't bid, we'll never know whether we could have received more or less revenue through a competitive process," Wilson said.
According to the CHN article "UNC officials asked the county last fall not to bid the project out, said Gayle Wilson, Orange County's solid waste director."
That seems to me like a somewhat unusual request for the University to make and even more unusual for the County to grant. I hope the University remembers this largesse the next time the County has a request of them.
too bad