Landfill Methane Used to Power Dow Plant

The Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority can take credit for brokering a deal whereby methane gas is collected at the landfill and turned into an energy source at the nearby Dow Chemical Plant. It sounds simple, but it took years and a lot of coordination to become a reality.

MAYOR DAVID PENNINGTON, DALTON "One of the quiet giants in our community has always been Dow..they do things behind the scene and have made this a much better community and I can't say enough about the Dow people."

Here's the way it works. The methane that is a bi-product of any landfill is collected and piped to this Gas Energy Recovery System where it is dehydrated and compressed. It is sent by pipeline to the Dow Chemical Facility two miles away where the methane is used to run a boiler. The resulting steam runs about 95% of the processing plant..which makes several products including latex.

NEIL HAWKINS, Ph.D. DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY "Yeah, this project is a tremendous example of a public-private partnership where solving real challenges and sustainability like climate change ...also make business sense.

Dow has replaced its use of natural gas with the landfill methane at a lower cost. What does Dalton and Whitfield county get out of it?

To accomplish the same thing, the EPA estimates that the community would have to take 17-thousand vehicles off the roads every year, or plant 24-thousand acres of trees.

KEN MITCHELL, DEP. DIR. EPA, ATLANTA "This is a great project because it both provides a sustainable clean energy source for a local business, Dow Chemical, and it also takes a very potent greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere. "

EPA's Ken Mitchell calls it a win-win situation. With the emphasis now of greenhouse gases, Dalton officials expect other communities will be following their lead to use methane gases from their landfills.