Waste hauler WM has been touting its efforts to extract gas from the Fairless Hills Landfill complex, calling the project an environmental win, writes Frank Kummer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The property, spanning 6,000 acres, features four landfills and two lakes. WM recently began tapping two of those landfills for gas, drawing from 290 wells at the closed GROWS-North Landfill along with 314 wells at the active Fairless Landfill. The company converts the captured gas into renewable natural gas at its new $131 million facility nearby, powering 63,000 homes each year.
The company then funnels the processed gas into a Williams Cos. pipeline, where it is sold for various energy uses.
“This renewable natural gas goes into the pipeline and offsets fossil fuels that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere,” said Tara Hemmer, WM senior vice president and chief sustainability officer.
The company views this as an environmentally positive, tapping a fuel source that would otherwise be flared and released into the atmosphere.
“You end up with pure pipeline-quality methane that can be pushed right into the Williams pipeline,” said Hemmer. “It’s considered a renewable natural gas at that point.”
To see how this massive Bucks County project could reshape the future of renewable energy in our region, read the full article in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
