Nov082009
Landfill to electricity to greenhouse to fish food to algae to …
Filed under Alternative energy by david brooks at 6:12 pm
Since May, roughly 80 percent of UNH’s energy has been generated by methane released by the huge Rochester landfill - a cogeneration (heat and electricity) project that is one of the biggest alternative-energy projects in the state. But as I noted in this item, they’re still not making use of the CO2 released during the process, which in theory could be pumped into a greenhouse to create super-veggies.
Well, there’s a company in Vermont that wants to do just that and then do even more, reports the Burlington Free Press: They’d tap the methane from a 30-acre landfill in Windham Vermont (about halfway between Rutland and Brattleboro) for electricity, then …
The electricity is sold, the heat warms a greenhouse and fish tank, and the carbon dioxide, plus fish waste, feed an algae farm. The algae is pressed to produce a biofuel and a cake-like waste which can be fed to fish. The vegetables and tilapia from the greenhouse supply the local food bank and are available for purchase.
They say the extra money made from fish, fuel, etc., will make it economically feasible to tap methane from smaller or older landfills like this one. Sounds like a lot of different parts to keep working, and the article notes that part of this scenario, particularly the algae/biofuel, is just speculation at this point. But it sure makes a lot of philosophical sense: Waste not, want not - the motto for the 21st century.
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