Landfill Gas to Transportation Fuels Conversion

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

As gas prices continue to rise, county governments are put under increasing pressure to solve the fuel efficiency crisis associated with county automobiles. At the same time, the negative stigma associated with county landfills is another dilemma that local communities deal with on a daily basis. DeKalb County owns and operates the second largest active MSW landfill in Georgia with a total capacity of 50 million cubic yards, directly serving over 158,000 single family residential homes and 8,500 commercial customers. However, the county vehicles that service the landfill require over $4.5 million in fuel costs alone. In response to this situation, DeKalb County has received federal and local grants to establish their Landfill Gas to Transportation Fuels Conversion program, aimed at producing alternative automobile fuel from landfill trash. Through the Department of Energy (DOE) and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), DeKalb County was awarded a grant for $8 million as part of the Clean Cities Atlanta Petroleum Reduction Program to convert a Landfill Gas (LFG) to Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) facility. Of the 25 grants awarded, this is the only DOE project that includes converting LFG to RNG, and will include two compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations at the landfill, maintenance shop upgrades, and purchase of 40 CNG fueled vehicles. With this conversion, DeKalb County will significantly reduce emissions, forecasting fuel savings of $3 million during the next eight years converting “trash to gas,” and “gas to cash,” while serving as home to the first and only renewable natural gas processing facility for vehicle use of its kind in the Southeast, and processing more landfill gas than any other county in Georgia. Although the cost of this project has been estimated at nearly $40 million, the positive results of the campaign will be immense. Renewable Natural Gas will be available through the existing natural gas infrastructure 24/7 creating a revenue stream for the county. The CNG dispensing station will be operational by September 2012, allowing the 79 CNG fueled vehicles in the county’s fleet to see immediate fuel savings once. This facility marks a new objective of green energy and reduced dependency of foreign petroleum. Additionally, the plant will reduce carbon dioxide emissions equal to the amount produced by 865,400,050 gallons of gasoline.