UNC Recycles Methane from Landfill
Monday, December 26 2011
by WUNC News Staff
Orange County and UNC Chapel Hill are working together to make productive use of a landfill gas. Methane originates from the decomposition of organic materials such as food. The collaboration will collect methane from the county's landfill and use it to produce electricity using a generator at UNC. Ray DuBose is the director of UNC Energy Services. He says projects like these are not without precedent.
Ray Dubose: So we know that there are other projects in the state of North Carolina that have been successful. With the rising costs of electricity it's become more financially attractive for landfill gas projects and smaller landfills.
DuBose says the total emissions reduction from the project will be equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions from 4.7 million gallons of consumed gasoline. Methane is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
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