THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 23, 1995 TAG: 9501230090
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Garbage will power as many as 4,500 homes in South Hampton Roads this year - courtesy of methane gas and new technology.
The Southeastern Public Service Authority last week opened a $5 million waste-to-energy plant which taps methane buried at its Suffolk landfill and converts the smelly byproduct of rotting trash to electricity.
The plant, which emits no air pollution, is the only such facility in the region, and one of about 150 operating in the nation. The Environmental Protection Agency calls the process a coming trend in trash management.
Built with little fanfare at the rear of SPSA's regional landfill, the plant joins five others in Virginia - two in Northern Virginia, three in the Richmond area - which sell a combined 15 megawatts of electricity to Virginia Power.
``These are all environmentally sound projects for a material that for years was just considered waste,'' said Virginia Power spokesman Bill Byrd. ``While landfill gas is not as cheap as coal or nuclear power, it's certainly a good green product.''
Methane is listed as a ``greenhouse gas,'' meaning that its release into the atmosphere is believed to contribute to global warming.
It also is dangerous. If left to fester underground, methane has the uncanny ability to seep through cracks and small pipes into buildings near landfills and, in some cases, cause explosions.
``The problem with methane comes when you leave it alone,'' said Allen Blakey, spokesman for the National Solid Waste Association in Washington. ``So we support these landfill-gas systems. They make a positive from a negative.''
Virginia Beach experimented with the technology in 1989. But the company that invested nearly $10 million to build a plant near Regent University went out of business a year later, leaving behind equipment and piping that still sit idle, said Wade Kyle, solid waste administrator.
Kyle said Virginia Beach does not want to spend tax dollars to re-start the plant. Instead, the city has been looking for a lucrative private partner.
Virginia Beach Councilman Robert Dean said he hopes the city hurries and finds a new partner.
``I'm a total believer in this,'' said Dean, known for his environmental concerns. ``I'm not sure what's taken so long for us to get going. It was a facility ahead of its time, but now everyone else is catching up.''
SPSA's plant is financed by a private company, Zahren Alternative Power Corp. of Connecticut. The firm has a proven record of running nine other systems in New England and the mid-Atlantic region.
Known as ZAPCO, the firm also is negotiating for plants in Lynchburg and Chester, and is bidding on a proposed project in Newport News, according to a corporate newsletter.
Unlike other waste-to-energy technologies, such as incinerators that produce synthetic fuels and electricity, the SPSA plant does not spew residues into the air.
According to Dale Hollinger, who manages the new plant, the mechanics are fairly simple.
Gas is sucked from wells sunk 40 feet to 60 feet in the landfill and then piped underground to a compressor. From there, the pressurized gas is fed to an engine and ignited. The combustion spins four generators, producing electricity, which is then sent to Virginia Power.
Hollinger said such systems only have trouble when gas supplies begin to fade. But he described the amount of methane in SPSA's landfill as ``enormous.''
``I think we'll be here for quite awhile,'' he said.
KEYWORDS: ENERGY GARBAGE by CNB