Greenhouse gases from a Baltimore City dump could be one of the largest alternative fuel sources for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. Coast Guard Yard on Curtis Bay wants to build a mile-long pipe to take methane from the Quarantine Road Landfill to feed four electricity generators.
“This project alone will account for the Department of Homeland Security?s goals for using alternative fuels until 2012,” said Cmdr. John Slaughter, the yard?s facility engineer.
The odorless gas will be cleaned and used to power the yard, generating four megawatts ? enough to power 1,900 houses ? and taking the Coast Guard?s third largest facility off the power grid.
The project is in its final planning stages with groundbreaking expected in November and completion next fall, Slaughter said.
All that is needed is approval from the Maryland Department of the Environment, which appears to be greenlighting the effort, officials said.
Because only 400 feet of the pipe is outside of the yard and does not affect neighborhoods, the public supported the project, said Bob Albertini, project manager for Ameresco Federal Solutions, the company building the project.
No one attended the project?s public meeting Tuesday at Northeast High School.
Landfill methane power is expensive because the energy output is half that of natural gas, industry experts say.
But it is gaining popularity as the process removes a harmful greenhouse gas and generates revenue for landfills.
“We can?t compete with a nuclear or coal plant, but you have to do something with that gas, and anything we can do to reduce fossil fuels should be welcomed,” said Ted Dunchak, project engineer for German-based G.A.S Energy Technology, which has an office in Baltimore City.
Slaughter said about $2 million in energy costs could be saved by using methane.
