It's good when garbage dumps are adapted to recover methane to generate electricity -- for one thing, the buildup of methane can cause explosions and other hazards. But to call this tapping "renewable energy" is stretching things. Trash is certainly not a renewable resource like timber nor is it renewable like solar or wind power. Ultimately, we've got to learn to generate less and less trash. Counting methane from landfills toward a quota of renewable power set by state laws isn't advisable -- it will create incentives for more waste, more trash, and more landfills.
Next year, when the lights go on in Glencoe, residents can thank
orange peels, rotten broccoli and leftover lasagna that was thrown out
years ago for some of the electricity that keeps their houses glowing.
Waste Management Inc., heeding the proverb that one person's trash is another person's treasure, is spending $3.5 million to poke holes and run pipes to help the Spruce Ridge landfill expel gases that soon will run three electrical generators.
The project is part of a $350 million investment to be made by Waste Management over the next five years to turn 60 landfills across the country into sites for creating renewable energy.
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