Power, Gas Utility & Midstream - Operations and Strategy
| Waste Management, Linde produce LNG at California landfill |  |
November 03, 2009 3:28 PM ET
By Bryan McBournie
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Waste Management Inc. and Linde North America said Nov. 2 that their joint venture company has begun producing LNG at a new facility at the Altamont Landfill near Livermore, Calif. The facility is the world's largest landfill gas-to-LNG plant, the companies said. Linde, part of the Linde Group, built and operates the plant. It also purifies and liquefies the gas that Waste Management collects from the landfill. The plant began the commissioning process in September and has produced about 200,000 gallons of LNG since then. It has the capacity to produce up to 13,000 gallons of LNG per day, which is enough to fuel Waste Management's 485 LNG waste and recycling collection vehicles in 20 communities in California. Duane Woods, senior vice president for Waste Management's Western Group, said in a statement that the Altamont facility allows the company to use another source of clean energy to reduce its dependence on oil. "The ability to use recovered landfill gas to fuel our hauling fleet offers significant environmental benefits to the communities we serve in California and is a great example of how we are committed to recovering resources in waste," Woods said. Linde President Pat Murphy said the plant is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 30,000 tons per year. The project qualifies as a "super ultra-low carbon fuel" as defined by the California Air Resources Board. "As California continues to move forward with its nation-leading policies to fight global warming, we need a diverse, dependable and environmentally sound mix of energy supplies to meet the needs of our people and our economy," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "I am pleased to see the market responding as California continues to attract and grow more clean-tech and green-tech businesses and projects just like this LNG facility that will provide consumers with a cleaner-burning, alternative fuel source." The plant meets two environmental directives from Schwarzenegger. Waste Management said it meets the Bioenergy Action Plan, which encourages biomass development as a transportation fuel. And it meets an executive order from the governor that aims to reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020, the company said. The California Integrated Waste Management Board, California Energy Commission, South Coast Air Quality Management District and California Air Resources Board contributed a combined $15.5 million to the project. Also on Nov. 2, Waste Management celebrated the opening of a landfill gas-to-electricity plant in Lewisville, Texas. The 7,500-square-foot facility is the second to be built at the landfill. The first landfill gas power plant at the site was built in 1987. "Our facility will benefit the local environment and economy because it will help offset the need for non-renewable resources such as coal, natural gas and oil," said Tracey Shrader, Waste Management vice president for the north Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas area. | 
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