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Jan 17, 2007 3:02 pm US/Mountain
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Aspen Exploring Landfill Gas As Source Of Power
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) ―
County commissioners in this upscale resort area will spend up to $10,000 to study whether methane gas leaking from a landfill can be used to generate electricity.
The study will test the quality and quantity of the gas coming from the Pitkin County dump and its potential for generating power.
Chris Hoofnagle, the county's solid-waste manager, said Tuesday that some landfills around the country collect "near-pipeline-quality gas," which can generate electricity.
Hoofnagle said the Pitkin County landfill releases 432,000 cubic feet of gas a day, about 50 percent methane and 50 percent carbon dioxide by volume. Any electricity the gas can produce could be used to power landfill facilities; any excess could be fed into the power grid.
"It's a cutting-edge, green technology," he said. "This would be another notch for us and the county."
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)