Study Finds Gas To Energy Project Feasible For Maroco “It is technologically and economically feasible to do a landfill gas to energy project, contingent on a steady waste flow,” Ayres Associates Engineer Erik T. Lietz reported to Maroco Landfill Committee Friday, Sept. 6 at the Marinette County Courthouse. Ayres had been hired to do a feasibility study with the help of a 50/50 Focus on Energy grant.
Lietz said their study looked at both a 3-phase electrical system and a combined heat and power project to utilize methane gas generated by the landfill. Either could be done, he said.
Lietz predicted, based on estimated construction/installation costs and projected income, that the joint Marinette/Oconto county landfill operation could recoup its original investment in a gas-to-energy project in about six years and then reap profits during the remainder of the projected 10-year life span of at least one of the systems that were studied.
He said the study looked at the possibilities of five different systems, and calculations involve starting out with full size units, or starting small with add-on capabilities as another cell is capped and begins generating methane.
He recommended starting with one or more small phased micro turbines, and adding more as additional cells at the landfill close and more gas is generated.
He believed all projected maintenance and operational costs were built correctly into his calculations, but suggested that as a next step a third party, possibly one or both of the county finance departments, but not Ayres and not a power company, should look at the numbers. “We’re not accountants, we’re engineers,” he commented.
Possible Focus on Energy grants for construction are already built into the calculations, Lietz said in response to questions from committee members. He has been assured by a spokesman for the Focus on Energy program that funding for a gas-to-energy project for Maroco will almost certainly be approved.
Lietz said the EPA wants methane destroyed whenever possible. He added Maroco already does that by burning off the gas off with flares, “but whenever you use that waste to replace other fuels used to make energy, that’s a plus.”
It is also a plus that 3-phase power lines already run very near the landfill site on Shaffer Road in the Town of Stephenson, on high lines carrying power generated by Johnson Falls Dam, and down Shaffer Road because of an expansion at the neighboring Desmidt’s Golf Course.
He explained electricity generated at Maroco could be used to operate the landfill and its scale house, eliminating electric bills, with excess sold back to the power company.
Electric bills at the landfill over a 4-year period totaled $3,500, to operate the flare system and the scale house. The county currently buys electricity at 12 cents per kwh, and would sell it back at 6 cents per kwh. However, the rate paid by WPS could change as “green” energy becomes more readily available, Lietz cautioned.
He explained Wisconsin law requires WPS and other power companies to be using 25 percent “green” energy to produce electricity by 2025, and because of this they would pay a premium for reclaimed landfill gasses that would otherwise be burned off or released into the atmosphere. However, the price could go down as green energy becomes more readily available.
As committee members discussed possible economical routes to get electricity from the landfill to the power transmission lines, Maroco Landfill Administrator John LeFebvre pointed out the major cost involved in the gas-to-energy project would be for equipment needed to feed electricity into the power lines rather than only draw it out.
Contaminants filtered out of the methane would be returned to the landfill, Lietz said. “There’s no good way to dispose of it right now.”
“There are risks involved with this and there are also rewards,” Lietz said of a methane to electricity project.
Risks are that rates paid for electricity may change, waste volumes could decrease, or the amount paid by WPS for “green” energy may change if it becomes more readily available.
Lietz added when talking about renewable energy everybody talks about solar and wind power, “but this is the third source.”
Constructing the project woud be good for the reputations of both counties, Lietz commented. “You would not be just taking waste, you would be making use of it.”
Whatever is done, it will not be accomplished overnight. Lietz said the electric company would need nine months to a year for their studies, and the counties would need to negotiate an agreement with a power company to figure out their financing.
Oconto Supervisor Jim LaCourciere asked how Cap-and-trade laws would affect the proposed energy project. Lietz said it could mean more money would be available to help offset the cost of the project, but he is not sure. He explained by burning off methane Maroco does release carbons into the air, and there is equipment to measure how much carbon would be destroyed by the generating project, but that would be an added cost. However, they could then sell the saved air capacity to some factory that needs it, so there might be more income available.
Lietz showed photos of the micro turbines, which do not require a building, they are designed to be used outside. Each is about one refrigerator wide and two refrigerators deep, he explained. There is a small version behind the fire station in Crivitz, he said.
Asked about noise, Lietz said a brand installed next to school in another community does emit a sort of “high pitched whine”, but there have ben no complaints. Some brands and some methods of generating do require a building. For example a Cat engine generator requires weather proof enclosure with sound control.
LeFebvre said he and Lietz should sit down and look at exactly what they want to accomplish. Total cost of the project would be about $1.3 million, and Maroco has available reserves of $1.7 million, he added, but there are some major expenditures planned for next year, including purchase of a new compactor and closing another cell within the next year or two.
“This project is worth doing, but I’m concerned about financing,” LeFebvre declared. He suggested the Finance Departments of both counties should look at the project and alternate forms of funding, and meanwhile, he will work on getting a firm price from WPS. “I like the idea that the gas we now burn off will be used for electricity,” he added.
Committee Chair Bill Popp, a supervisor on Oconto County Board, said the Focus on Energy grants are generally for $250,000, and he has been assured, “They’ll look at us the same way they look at people in Milwaukee...This is one of the few state agencies that does that!”
LeFebvre said built into the plan are provisions for a Phase 1, with a grant, and another grant for phase 2, when the system would be expanded, “But who knows if the grants will still be out there by then?”
Focus on Energy is a state agency organized as a sort of public/private partnership and all the utilities belong to it. Funding comes from the state and federal governments.
Marinette County Supervisor Ted Sauve suggested that copies of the report be given to Oconto County Board Chair Lee Rymer and Marinette County Board Chair George Bousley. Oconto County Supervisor Don Glynn noted the Maroco Committee has not accepted the report.
LeFebvre suggested instead that copies be given to the administrators and accounting departments of each county. Decision was that LeFebvre is to make digitized copies available, and at the annual joint county Maroco meeting on Friday, Jan. 22, with administrators and chairmen of both counties present, LeFebvre and Lietz will present the report, complete with a possible timetable and flow chart.
In other business, LeFebvre reported Saturday business at the landfill is down slightly from last year and the year before. “The number of loads are down,” he said, “It’s the economy. People just aren’t doing their projects.”
LeFebvre noted in future reports they will not be able to get a true picture by comparing current income with income from last year because of the $8 per ton hike in landfill fees, which is largely attributable to the new tonnage fee charged by the state.
In response to a question from the committee, LeFebvre said so far he hasn’t seen any garbage going to the Waste Management Landfill in Michigan because of the increase.
Interest earned on investments is down considerably, LeFebvre reported. A $124,000 CD that was earning 3.5 percent last year was just renewed at 2.19 percent, he said.
Recyclable metals collected at the landfill, mainly in the form of appliances, are sold to Smet, who recently paid him $448, LeFebvre said. He noted it is almost to the point where money received from selling metal covers the cost of purging refrigerants from the appliances.
The board unanimously agreed to accept some 35 to 40 yards of soil contaminated by a diesel spill in Florence County at the regular out of county rate of $56 per ton. LeFebvre noted Maroco is licensed by the DNR to accept the material. He said diesel fuel is not nearly as bad a contaminant as gasoline. By Maroco rules, accepting contaminants requires favorable votes by all committee members present.
The next meeting was set for 9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18.
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