They have installed a new way to generate electricity (which I am a big fan of) at the dump. What they do is suck out methane gas from the capped portion of the landfill though a well and pipe system.
Here is a well. They have 83 wells total, all sucking out the gas made from decomposing trash.
Then the gas gets piped and put it into this thing behind me here…
This is a methane gas filter, compressor, dryer. It basically turns the gas into fuel.
Then the fuel is moved into this thing…
This thing burns the fuel. What you see behind me are three bus sized engines that burns the methane gas, turned fuel. The engines then produce electricity that is transferred to a nearby substation, which is then put on to the power grid and powers 3000 homes in Murray.
Pretty cool eh? What will they think of next.
Also…and I know this is the part that will make many of you jealous…with my media credentials, I was given unprecedented access to the landfill. I was shuttled to the top of the landfill to see down into it.
Through the magic of technology (my camera) here is what I saw.
It was disturbing actually. The little truck you see at the bottom are the same trucks that are the size of your house that pick up your trash ever week.
I never knew how many there were. There were hundereds of them that passed though durning the two hours I was there. I really was disturbing to see that much trash.
I made me want to be much more conscientious of what I am throwing away. If we could all reduce our trash by 30 percent by recycling or reusing, it would make a big old difference.
It really is something you have to see to believe. Everyone should go to the landfill, but if you go, make sure they don’t hear you call it a dump, they are sensitive about it. It’s a landfill, not a dump.
Seriously though…take your kids, they should see why it is important to recycle. You just can’t believe all the trash and everything that goes into to throwing stuff away.
12 comments:
You can make anything interesting! And just so you know, we recycle.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Here in Germany they recycle everything. We have four garbage cans. One for garbage, one for bio, one for paper, and one for plastics, packaging and cans. Then they have glass recycle bins all over town. I think when we come back to the States it will be weird to not recycle so much.
I'm going to call you Wall*E from now on!
You know how much Isaac has always like the dump, I mean landfill. He would have loved that!
This makes me think of the new comedy with Amy Phoeler...parks and recreation. Glamorous it right! HAH!
we took the scouts there last year and they loved it. I REALLY loved it--so cool! I thought it was so fun to see how it all works--and to hear about the seagulls...
My kids went with George Shrinks when George accidentally threw out his mother's found art sculpture.
You really do live the glamorous life. First Eureka, and now this!
sooo many gas jokes, sooo little time...
i toured the landfill and now we are much more a recycling family. i will look for your article-they are always the best!
What a great post! Have you heard of freecycle? It's a great way to keep things out of the landfill. If you haven't heard of it, let me know and I'll fill you in. You should do a post about it and other tips on how to reduce, re-use and recycle!
Turning trash into fuel, that is genius.
Congrats on another front-page story. What's that. . .like 6-months in a row?
Very interesting article and post!
That is amazing! What a good way to use trash!
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