Methane gas well atop Rochester dump (the gas-purification building is in the background) - photo by Bob Hammerstrom

A few months ago I visited the UNH project that uses methane from the gigantic Rochester dump to power roughly 80 percent of the Durham campus’ electricity and heat.

The university reports that the project, the first of its kind for a university, is now complete. Check here for the press release, complete with video.

The next step will be to do something with the CO2 that’s released by at the landfill during the purification process. (Methane straight from landfills is full of chemicals that will royally screw up a turbine over time.) Since carbon-capture is too iffy, the best idea would be to build some greenhouses at the site and pump CO2 into it, would can greatly increase the growth rate of vegetables.

Monster locally grown tomatoes in February - wouldn’t you love that?

Tags: UNH