May 19th, 2009

Photo: PRNewswire
Methane gas from Waste Management’s Turnkey Recycling and Environmental Enterprise in Rochester, N.H., is collected, purified, and compressed before traveling via a 12.7-mile pipeline to the University of New Hampshire.

From Green Right Now Reports

The University of New Hampshire announced today that it has completed its “EcoLine” gas-to-energy project, which will use purified methane gas from a nearby landfill to power the campus. The five million square-foot campus in Durham, N.H., will receive up to 85 percent of its electricity and heat from the system, making UNH the first university in the nation to use landfill gas as its primary fuel source.

EcoLine is a partnership between the university and Waste Management’s Turnkey Recycling and Environmental Enterprise in Rochester, N.H. Methane gas, a naturally occurring by-product of landfill decomposition, is collected via a state-of-the-art collection system consisting of more than 300 extraction wells and miles of collection pipes.

“This massive project, more than four years in the making, will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and stabilize our fuel source and costs,” UNH President Mark W. Huddleston, said in a statement. “EcoLine showcases UNH’s fiscal and environmental responsibility and secures our leadership position in sustainability.”

After the gas is purified and compressed at a new UNH processing plant at Waste Management’s facility, it travels through a 12.7-mile-pipeline from the landfill to UNH’s cogeneration plant, where it will replace commercial natural gas as the primary fuel source. In operation since 2006, UNH’s cogeneration plant captures waste heat normally lost during the production of electricity and uses this energy to heat campus buildings.

The project’s cost, including construction of the pipeline and the landfill processing plant, totaled $49 million. UNH officials said they will sell renewable energy certificates (RECs) generated by using landfill gas to help finance the overall cost of the project and to invest in additional energy efficiency projects on campus. The university also plans to sell excess power back to the electric grid.

“By selling the RECs from EcoLine, UNH will further fund its aggressive plan toward climate neutrality,” Tom Kelly, UNH chief sustainability officer and director of the office of sustainability, said in a statement. “With this climate action plan, called WildCAP, UNH has committed to lowering its emissions by 50 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2080.”

The University of New Hampshire was founded in 1866 and has 11,800 undergraduate and 2,400 graduate students.

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