County Leaders Celebrate Opening of Renewable Fuel Facility

DeKalb County leaders celebrated a project that will turn methane gas from a landfill into fuel for vehicles Monday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

DeKalb’s new facility will create compressed natural gas from the methane gas, says the Saporta Report, similar to another methane recovery operation at the county’s Seminole Road Landfill. The first recovery facility captures methane for use by Georgia Power, which burns it to drive turbines that create electricity.

The two recovery facilities will help DeKalb reduce its carbon footprint and earn money for the county government, leaders said. DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis cast the deciding vote in February 2011 in favor of building the plant.

Methane from the landfill will be captured instead of emitted into the atmosphere; when burned as fuel by county vehicles, the gas will emit fewer wastes than the fuel it replaces. When the amount of methane exceeds the needs of the county government, the excess will be sold to the public.

The program’s costs are paid for by DeKalb County and a U.S. Department of Energy grant.