Gas From Trash: North California Landfill Dump Producing 13,000 Gallons a Day
By John O'Dell November 4, 2009
Recycling at work: Trash hauler Waste Management Inc. says it will be able to produce up to 13,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas daily to fuel 300 of its trash trucks using methane gas from decomposing garbage at one of its large Northern California landfill dumps.
The company, which has been involved in waste-to-energy programs for nearly 40 years, has installed a $15.5 million biogas collection and refining system at its Altamont Landfill near Livermore in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The German-made system removes impurities from the methane and chills it to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit to liquefy it so it can be pumped directly into the trash trucks' tanks.
We can't help but wonder how many gallons a weekly residential curbside garbage can would be good for and whether there's any future in, say, neighborhood waste-to-gas programs? Perhaps a monthly voucher good for your garbage's equivalent of LNG at the local dump pump?
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