Natural Gas from Milam Landfill to Be Delivered to Ameren Illinois
Pipeline
FAIRMONT CITY, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 2014--
Waste Management (NYSE: WM)
celebrated the opening of a unique Renewable Natural Gas Facility
creating pipeline-ready natural gas from the landfill gas produced at
its Milam Landfill in Fairmont City, Illinois.
In early December, the processed renewable natural gas will be injected
into the Ameren Illinois pipeline for withdrawal at other locations,
including some Waste Management facilities. The natural gas is used to
heat homes or fuel truck fleets and other equipment that run on
compressed natural gas (CNG).
The Milam Renewable Natural Gas Facility is designed to process
approximately 3,500 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM) of incoming
landfill gas. This is as much gas as it takes to fuel about 200 Waste
Management CNG collection trucks each day, and represents more than 5
percent of the natural gas that is used in Waste Management’s entire CNG
fleet per day. Waste Management of Illinois currently has more than 100
CNG trucks in its fleet displacing about one million gallons per year of
diesel fuel.
“The Milam Renewable Natural Gas Facility is the first facility of its
kind we’ve actually built from the ground up,” said Jim Trevathan,
executive vice president and chief operating officer for Waste
Management. “This innovative facility utilizes renewable landfill gas,
and purifies it to a high-quality natural gas that in turn feeds into
the adjacent pipeline to fuel our growing fleet of CNG trucks. This
truly maximizes available resources while creating a new and beneficial
use.”
"At Ameren Illinois, we are investing in new technology upgrades to our
natural gas delivery system, so when we were approached by Waste
Management for this first-of-its-kind collaboration, it made perfect
sense to us," said Richard J. Mark, president and CEO of AmerenIllinois. "Operating in an environmentally-responsible manner is one of
Ameren Illinois’ core values and it's important to our customers. On
behalf of our 3,000 employees, I congratulate Waste Management for
taking this important step."
Like wind and solar, landfill gas – which is produced as waste naturally
decomposes inside a landfill - is a renewable source of energy endorsed
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an alternative to fossil
fuels. Once captured, the gas is filtered and compressed and can be used
to fuel an engine or a turbine to generate electricity. At the new Milam
Renewable Natural Gas Facility, the landfill gas is further processed to
produce pipeline-quality natural gas.
The existing Milam Landfill-Gas-to-Energy facility produces 2.4
megawatts of renewable energy. The output from this power plant is now
directly connected to the new Renewable Natural Gas Facility, providing
the power needed to run the new facility. The Renewable Natural Gas
Facility also reduces the site’s emissions. Since the gas is treated,
rather than burned onsite, Waste Management anticipates a 60 percent
reduction in emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and
particulate matter.
The $19 million Renewable Gas Facility was partially funded by a $2.4
million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity and the Illinois Energy Office. Construction of the facility
provided the equivalent of 17 union jobs over a ten-month period, and
three operational jobs.
"We celebrate with Waste Management on the opening of this new
facility," said Illinois EPA Director Lisa Bonnett. "This project is a
great example of proactive measures that will improve our environment
while driving Illinois' economy forward."
Waste Management’s Commitment to Using Landfill Gas to Generate
Electricity, Produce Renewable Gas and Displace Fossil Fuel
The Milam Renewable Natural Gas Facility is the company’s third plant to
convert landfill gas to natural gas. In California, Waste Management
collaborated in the world’s largest plant to convert landfill gas to
ultra-low-carbon liquefied natural gas (LNG). With greenhouse gas
emissions associated with this fuel, more than 80 percent lower than
those of diesel, this is the cleanest fuel available for heavy-duty
trucks. The facility produces up to 13,000 gallons of LNG per day and
helps to power the company’s fleet in California. In Ohio, Waste
Management processes about 3,000 SCFM of landfill gas and delivers it to
a natural gas pipeline.
Waste Management has 134 landfill projects using landfill gas to
generate electricity, produce renewable gas, or displace fossil fuel.
These projects produce the equivalent of more than 650 megawatts of
power capacity, enough to power almost half a million homes, and
displace the equivalent of about 2.5 million tons of coal per year.
ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of
comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our
subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource
recovery, and disposal services. We are the largest residential recycler
and also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and
landfill-gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers
include residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers
throughout North America. To learn more visit www.wm.com.
Source: Waste Management
Waste Management
Lisa Disbrow, 317-508-5113
ldisbrow@wm.com
