One man?s trash is another?s treasure.
Baltimore County officials gave the phrase new meaning Thursday as they unveiled new equipment at a White Marsh landfill that converts methane from decomposing garbage into electricity.
Officials trumpeted the $7 million center as a cost-effective and environment-friendly initiative with an impact equivalent to removing 3,000 cars from county roads.
The county will profit from leasing the methane rights to operator Eastern Landfill Gas LLC, a Pepco affiliate, for the next 20 years, officials said.
The company will profit from Pepco?s electricity sales.
“Baltimore County?s gas-to-electricity project is a paradigm private-public effort,” said County Executive Jim Smith. “It?s a win-win situation.”
The county for the past two years has contracted with the company to manage gas at the 350-acre landfill, stored in underground wells.
Last month, officials began operating three internal combustion engines and converting methane into electricity. Up until now, the county burned the methane in an on-site smokestack, wasting energy, said project manager Steve Lippy.
Lippy said other Maryland counties are also converting methane from their landfills into electricity. Prince George?s County began in the 1980s ? where methane powers the county detention center ? and Anne Arundel County plans to sell the methane from its Millersville landfill to the Fort Meade military base to power boilers.
In Baltimore County, officials estimate the 350-acrelandfill can produce enough methane to generate 3 megawatts of power daily, or enough to power 1,900 homes.
County Executive Jim Smith joined District 6 Councilman Joe Bartenfelder and other officials at a ceremonial grand opening Thursday at the landfill off Days Cove Road.
“The electricity would cost more buying it off the grid,” said county public works director Ed Adams. “And, environmentally, this is the right thing to do.”
