Four power plants in North Carolina will soon be powered by animal waste.
Duke Energy announced Monday it will buy pigs and poultry excrement for a new waste output center. It will use the methane gas released from the dung to generate renewable electricity at four different power stations.
“It is encouraging to see the technological advances that allow waste-to-energy projects in North Carolina to be done in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner for our customers,” said David Fountain, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president.
Duke Energy supplies electricity to the Carolinas, Florida, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky and has about 7.4 million customers.
Duke will buy the waste from Carbon Cycle Energy, which will build and own the facility to convert the waste into energy. The plant will be built in eastern North Carolina.
The company expects the plants to generate about 125,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy every year. That means about 10,000 waste-powered homes every year.
The plants will also help satisfy state renewable energy requirements, according to Duke.
