Coffee County landfill to earn carbon credits

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The Coffee County landfill is installing a new gas collection system that will cost more than a million dollars.

Since the system will earn the county carbon credits, the money won’t be coming out of the county’s residents’ pockets.

Your household garbage ultimately ends up at a landfill where it decomposes, giving off methane gas.

“In most cases this methane gas is released to the atmosphere and it is considered a greenhouse gas,” says County Engineer Randy Tindall.

Once a landfill emits too much methane, they’re required to install a destruction system.

Twenty-eight well heads around the landfill pull the gas out of the decomposing trash.

“It pulls that methane into these wells through that line all the way to that flare,” says Tindall.

The flare will stand up and you’ll see a flame as the methane burns, turning into carbon dioxide.

“Methane is like 21 times more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide, so that’s why we want to try to capture it and destroy it,” says Tindall.

In the near future the Coffee County landfill would grow large enough to require this gas collection system, but county commissioners have decided to go ahead put it in voluntarily.

“If we install this system voluntarily, like we have done, then we are eligible to get paid for what we destroy by someone who cannot clean up their process,” says Tindall.

The county will receive carbon credits that they hope will cover the $1.3 million price tag.

If the county had waited to install the system after it was required, that entire amount would have to come from taxpayer dollars.

The system will be partially up and running next week and will be at a 100% by the end of October.

Tagged as: America carbon, carbon credits, Carbon Dioxide

Posted on September 26, 2009 · in USA