December 24th, 2009
From Green Right Now Reports
Pennsylvania is investing $5 million in federal recovery money in eight alternative energy projects that use bio materials such as sewage, animal and food processing waste to generate enough energy to power more than 80,000 homes.
Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will support the commonwealth’s Green Energy Works! Biogas initiative. The projects will leverage an additional $22 million in private investments, the state announced today.
The eight projects receiving grants are expected to generate more than 470,000 megawatt hours of electricity over their lifetimes — enough energy to power more than 47,000 average homes in Pennsylvania for one year. The projects will also generate the equivalent of 3,183 million cubic feet of natural gas — enough to heat more than 37,000 average homes that use about 85,000 cubic feet of gas per year. The projects also will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by 237,000 tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of taking more than 41,000 passenger vehicles off the roads.
“By wisely investing our federal stimulus dollars in large-scale alternative energy projects, we are aggressively moving forward to meet our future long-term energy needs, while creating multiple short-term benefits,” Gov. Edward G. Rendell said in a statement. “These projects will put Pennsylvanians to work now constructing long-term assets that will supply residents with a significant amount of electricity for years to come. These projects will stimulate the economy by creating jobs and attracting additional investment capital needed to bring the projects to completion.
“The projects will also develop methods for handling various waste streams in more efficient and environmentally friendly manners. Farmers, food processors and local governments will now be able to better deal with various forms of waste material, use that waste to generate electricity, and in some cases, even using the waste heat generated to make the overall process even more efficient.”
The Green Energy Works! Biogas grants are part of a $52 million state initiative that uses Recovery Act money to fund innovative projects designed to help increase energy efficiency, reduce reliance on foreign energy sources, improve service reliability, and reduce the impact of energy production on the environment. Green Energy Works! is also funding large-scale combined heat and power, solar and wind projects.
