KDSN RADIO News
Eastern Iowa landfill turning methane into natural gas
There’s a new facility at a landfill in Davenport that allows the methane gas from decomposing trash to be collected and used for power.
Scott County Waste Commission spokesperson Rachel Evans explains. “We’re turning methane into natural gas, which literally goes right into the pipeline, right into the homes,” she says. The plant began operating last week using technology created by Waga Energy, which will operate the plant for an initial 20-year term.
Evans says the natural gas is funneled directly into MidAmerican Energy’s pipeline. “The facility has an installed capacity of over 60 gigawatt hours of renewable natural gas per year, so that’s approximately 15,800 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions which will be avoided annually,” Evans says.
Evans says the facility will provide power to 4,000 Quad City homes each year as it processes roughly 185,000 tons of waste from area cities. The facility began operating last week.
Many other counties also take methane gas from their landfills and turn it into usable gas. Black Hawk County completed such a project in 20203.
(By James Kelley, Iowa Public Radio)
