Portsmouth Renewable Energy Investors Win Bid for Vermont Electricity Generating System

When solid waste, otherwise known as trash, decomposes it releases methane gas. Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted by human activity, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a leading cause of global warming.

All in all, methane sounds like a detriment to the earth, but a Vermont-based renewable energy company, Carbon Harvest, has been using methane gas to help the environment and Portsmouth energy investors just won a bid to purchase the system.

NEO Energy, 1 Nh Avenue in Portsmouth, hopes to finalize the lease agreement for Carbon Harvest early next year, according to the Brattleboro Reformer.

Carbon Harvest traps methane gas from the trash that ends up at the Windham Solid Waste Management District and turns the gas into electricity. The company went bankrupt in 2013.

After his company went bankrupt, owner Donald McCormick told the Brattleboro Reformer, “I did my very best to build something that can change the world for the better in a small way. I have learned that sometimes the darkest events open new opportunities, maybe this is one of those moments.”

NEO Energy Chief Operating Officer Tony Callendrello hopes this is one of those moments. He told the Brattleboro Reformer that the company hopes to work with the Windham Solid Waste Management District to create an aerobic digester, a machine that would break down waste to produce electricity and fertilizer.

Equipment like the aerobic digester, Callendrello said, would reduce the amount of waste in landfills.

Read more at The Brattleboro Reformer.