It's the first landfill in the United States to sell credits on an open market for each ton of carbon eliminated through power production, county and federal officials said.
A $21,088 check from the county's private partner in the project, Greenville Gas Producers LLC, was presented at Thursday's ribbon-cutting. The total county revenue generated from the sale of carbon credits could be four times bigger for 2008, said William Brinker, the company's president.
Greenville Gas Producers invested about $4 million in the project and will gradually repay the county for its own expense -- nearly $900,000 to install pipes, wells and flares at the landfill, Brinker said.
The two engines will generate about 3.2 megawatts of power each year, with output declining gradually over the roughly 15-year life of the project, said Susan Harrison, an environmental engineer for Greenville County.
Steve Smith, manager of wholesale accounts for Duke Energy Carolinas, said Duke will buy about 3 megawatts a year, which will go into its electric grid. Duke gets federal incentives to purchase the power, and Greenville Gas Producers shares in the revenue and gets federal tax credits for the project, Harrison and Brinker said.
The landfill, mostly smoothed red dirt, grass and car paths, now is connected to 72 wells with perforated pipes jutting into the waste that remove methane with a vacuum, Harrison said.
Under a baking sun Thursday, county officials squeezed through the tight spaces in one of the 2,500-horsepower yellow Caterpillar engines and marveled at the quiet operation and lack of emissions.
County Council Chairman Butch Kirven called it a historic step and a sign of the ingenuity of county staff.
Tom Frankiewicz, with the landfill methane outreach program at the Environmental Protection Agency, said the project is a sign of things to come, noting that methane gas is 21 times more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide, which gets much of the attention in the global warming debate.
Frankiewicz said there are at least 14 other South Carolina landfills that could generate enough energy to power 9,000 homes if similar operations were embraced.
The county said its annual reduction of greenhouse gases from the project is equivalent to what is emitted from 25,000 passenger vehicles, or the consumption of more than 319,000 barrels of oil.
The county qualified to sell carbon credits under the Voluntary Carbon Standard through an intense process that Frankiewicz likened to an IRS audit.
Smith said Duke has bought into more than 100 "green" energy projects, including three landfill gas developments. He said this is the first in South Carolina.
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