Picture this message plastered on the side of a bus: Running on clean, renewable horse manure. It could happen, according to Anne Arundel authorities.
County Executive and Democratic comptroller candidate Janet Owens announced Wednesday a partnership with energy company North Shore Energy Technologies Inc., to review technology that converts wood waste, horse manure and landfill gas into electricity or liquid fuels, like ethanol.
It will involve building a small pilot-scale waste-to-energy plant in south county?s Sudley Landfill, which has been closed since 1991. The $85,000 feasibility study, which will take 12 to 18 months to complete, is believed by county and state officials to be the only one of its kind.
“Renewable energy makes really good economic sense,” said Aaron Greenfield, the president of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corporation. Besides creating a renewable energy source, the waste-to-energy conversion would also reduce nutrient runoff into the Bay.
Officials said Wednesday that the county produces about 1.7 million square feet of horse manure and about 58,000 tons of wood waste annually.
Sudley Landfill was chosen for the study because of its proximity to horse farms in the county. Funding for the study came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forestry Service, the Anne Arundel County Soil Conservation District and the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp.
The technology used in the waste-to-energy conversion is called biomass gasification. Using high temperatures, biomasses are decomposed into a mixture of gases that can be converted into electrical or thermal energy.
There are many different approaches to biomass gasification, and the study will look at how cost efficient and effective each is.
