Methane-harvesting to improve economy

By Miranda Baines

Published: August 19, 2008

Rockingham County could be on the verge of becoming greener - both environmentally and fiscally. The use of the methane in the landfill off N.C. 704 will help the environment while boosting the county’s economy, county officials say.

“Early indications show that we have not only good quality of gas, but good quantity of gas,” said Mark Wells, executive director of the Rockingham County Business and Technology Center. “It’s a very, very neat project. I think this could certainly put Rockingham County on the map.”

On Monday, Ginger Waynick, the county’s public information officer, talked about what parts of the project have been completed and what needs to be done.

“There’s a ton of possibilities out there with methane,” she said. “What we’re trying to do is get an idea of all the possibilities.”

Waynick gave a presentation on the Jackson County landfill methane project. She and several staff members traveled to Catawba and Jackson counties in June. Jackson is using the methane in its landfill to power blacksmithing stations, and Catawba is using it to generate electricity and in the construction of an eco-complex.

Tom Wagoner is director of environmental and engineering services for Rockingham County.

“There are a lot of good success stories with it,” said Wagoner.

“The tests so far show that we’re producing quantities that we could take advantage of earth-saving and environmentally-friendly activities.”

In July, workers for Joyce Engineering tested existing wells at the landfill and four newly drilled wells. The report showed 265 square cubic feet per minute of methane can be pumped from the wells. That is likely to increase after more wells are drilled and a collections system is developed. Wells said the results are nearly identical to those of Appalachian State University’s preliminary findings at the landfill.

The next steps include seeking proposals to develop a collection system model with flow estimates based on test well figures and cost estimates to install flare units with meters. The meters would audit the number of carbon credits for the county, but additional funding may be needed.

Carbon credits

The methane advisory committee met with representatives from Environmental Credit Corp, which is preparing a bid on selling the credits. Carbon credits cannot be earned until flow-measurement devices have been installed at the wells. The county can sell the carbon credits on either the domestic market - Chicago Climate Exchange - or international market, managed through the Kyoto Protocol.

Wells said on Super Tuesday, when it was clear that Sen. John McCain would be the Republican candidate for president, the price of carbon credits on the domestic market more than doubled.

McCain supports some type of “carbon system,” as does Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic candidate. The price of carbon credits has remained steady, and Wells believes that Rockingham County will fetch a good price.

The objective is to burn off or get rid of the methane in the landfill. Creating electricity from the methane as opposed to burning it is a possibility as well, Wagoner said.

“We could capture enough of the gas to run a generator or a boiler system,” he said. “If we produced electricity, I think Duke Energy would buy the electricity that we produced.”

Said Wells, “By burning methane, one of the outputs is carbon dioxide, so we’re substituting a very bad greenhouse gas (methane) for one that’s not nearly as bad (carbon dioxide).”

Another potential revenue source is direct use - for arts and crafts such as firing pottery kilns and blacksmithing. The methane advisory committee has met twice and has developed a plan for getting public input regarding methane use.

Wells believes the project fits into the county’s goal of preserving the “rural nature” of the county. He has plans to establish a Rural Heritage Tourism Center, which would support business opportunities in Rockingham County.

According to the development plan released by ASU’s Energy Center, Phase II of the landfill methane project, tentatively set to begin in 2009, will use the gas to support the development of business opportunities. The gas will serve as a fuel for a potentially large arts incubator program and support the establishment and operation of a Rural Heritage Tourism Center. If established, the center would feature the historic courthouse and a collection of craftsmen. The center would directly support about 20 jobs.

Waynick said powering a fueling station for alternative energy cars is an idea.

“Everyone has become much more interested in going green. It’s a national trend. People are looking for alternative fuel and energy sources.”

North Carolina became the first state in the Southeast last August to adopt a Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard. According to the law, investor-owned utilities will be required to meet up to 12.5 percent of their energy needs through “renewable energy resources or energy efficiency measures.”

Rural electric cooperatives and municipal electric suppliers are subject to a 10 percent REPS requirement. See ncuc.commerce.state.nc.us/reps/reps.htm.

The landfill methane project began in July 2006, after a conference in Rocky Mount, where the ASU Energy Institute gave a presentation on a project it was conducting with funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation.

“We have an old landfill that was closed in 1995 and we were wondering if there was enough gas in the landfill to conduct the project,” said Brinkley.

ASU chose Rockingham County to be one of the four original landfills to participate and developed a report to determine whether it should move forward. The report indicated Rockingham County had enough methane to begin, so ASU provided a $20,000 grant for a project manager. The money goes to the RCBTC and is filtered to the three project managers - Wells, Wagoner and Waynick.

Brinkley said the county is still in the “evaluation stage,” but he is excited about the possibilities. To Wagoner, the project was inevitable.

The idea is to use the methane in the landfill to the county’s advantage rather than waiting for government mandates that would force the county to invest money in the landfill, said Wagoner.

“The landfill in its basic operation is something we will have to deal with at one point or another,” he said. “We’re in the steps of determining what is the best thing to do up until the point that we’re mandated to do something with it.”

Staff writer Miranda Baines can be reached at or 349-4331, ext. 35.