By By Kerry Whipple Bean – publisher
A group of businessmen working with Allied Waste are looking to turn trash to treasure at the Timberlands landfill on Alabama 41.
Representatives with CPL Systems of Lafayette, La., spoke to Coastal Gateway Economic Development Authority board members Wednesday to discuss a proposal to use methane at the landfill to help power an industry near the site.
But the group needs help from the EDA to land such an industry, David Mooney of CPL said.
Landfill methane is a renewable, green energy source, Mooney said.
Braxton Counts of Mobile said Allied Waste has worked with CPL in the past.
Mooney said there are 400 methane energy projects across the United States. Most need to be within 5 to 10 miles of the landfill in order to be effective, he said.
Coastal Gateway EDA Director Wiley Blankenship noted that the EDA, which is about 2 miles from the landfill, owns acreage near Timberlands.
The methane energy is not a new technology, he said, but has been used since the 1960s. The energy can be turned into a natural gas-type substance, as well as into electricity. The capital investment is usually about $5 million to $7 million, Mooney said.