700 MW of Electricity to Come from Landfill Gas

http://www.renewableaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=49123

Waste Management (WM) announced on Wednesday an initiative to expand its roster of landfill gas to energy (LFGTE) facilities, resulting in another 60 renewable energy facilities over the next five years.

Combined with its existing 103 LFGTE facilities, WM will generate more than 700 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. Throughout the rest of 2007, WM plans to bring 10 LFGTE facilities online and begin development on an additional 10 new sites.

LFGTE projects are especially valuable to utilities because they provide dependable baseload power. A typical facility will run about 95 percent of the time, making it a good fit with intermittent renewables such as wind and solar.

Landfill gas, produced when microorganisms break down organic material in the landfill, is comprised of approximately 50-60 percent methane and 40-50 percent carbon dioxide. At most landfills in the U.S., these greenhouse gases are simply burned off, or “flared.”

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I used to have to deal with them, and their mafia type business practices. Bad mojo. :(

Not sure what the problem is......

for instance..."...Still, the national carriers have had some run-ins of their own with the Trade Waste Commission. Over the last year, the commission has found that improper audits on trash collecting caused city customers to pay inflated prices. The findings resulted in individual fines for Allied and Waste Management totaling upwards of $500,000. Moreover, charges of price-fixing and anti-trust breaches have haunted the companies of late, charges somewhat reminiscent of the old days of the mob-run trash haulers. "
http://www.gothamgazette.com/iotw/mob/

I'm sure the process is great though, and probably should be installed everywhere. :)