DTE Launches Landfill Gas to Energy Facility in Michigan

Allan Gerlat, News Editor

December 7, 2011

1 Min Read
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DTE Biomass Energy has begun operating a 3.2-megawatt landfill gas-to-energy facility in Kimball Township, Mich.

The energy will come from St. Clair County’s Smith's Creek Landfill, which operates one of the first commercial-scale septage injection landfill gas systems in the United States. In the system the material is extracted from septic tanks and applied to the landfill to speed the decomposition of organic waste. This process increases the life of the landfill and advances the rate of landfill gas generation for electricity production, Ann Arbor, Mich.-based DTE said in a news release.

The electricity is produced at a facility operated by DTE subsidiary Blue Water Renewables Inc. The facility will produce electricity to power about 3,000 homes. The project created about 75 construction jobs.

"This project is an excellent example of how we have been able to convert harmful greenhouse gases into renewable energy," said DTE President Mark Cousino.

DTE has built and operates more than 25 landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States.

 

 

About the Author

Allan Gerlat

News Editor, Waste360

Allan Gerlat joined the Waste360 staff in September 2011 as news editor. He was the editor of Waste & Recycling News for the first 16 years of its history, and under his guidance the publication won 27 national and regional awards.

Before Waste & Recycling News, Allan worked at another Crain Communications publication, Rubber & Plastics News, which covers rubber product manufacturing. He began with the publication as associate editor and eventually became managing editor, a position he held for nine years.

Allan is a graduate of Ohio University, where he earned a BS in journalism. He is based in Sagamore Hills, in northeast Ohio.

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