Methane from landfill being turned into fuel

GROVE CITY, Ohio (AP) — Trash is being turned into gas near a landfill outside Columbus, where officials hope the cheap fuel — made from the methane that’s naturally given off by rotting garbage — will eventually be used in local buses and other government vehicles.

Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio officials said the landfill’s new gas-producing facility is capable of processing 300,000 gallons.

That’s enough to possibly fuel Franklin County’s entire fleet of 400 vehicles, said Charlotte Ashcraft, director of fleet management for the county.

But it’s just a fraction of how much fuel the landfill could produce, considering how much methane is given off by the dump’s waste, according to the authority director Ron Mills.

About 92 percent of the landfill’s methane is allowed to escape through two large venting stacks, he said.

A California company, FirmGreen Fuels, plans to invest $14 million to boost capacity even further, officials said. The landfill could produce 10 times more fuel at a cost of about $2 a gallon, only a little cheaper than the $2.50 a gallon for regular gas that many consumers are paying today.

But prices could easily rise again toward $4 a gallon, making the landfill-produced fuel even more attractive.

“It’s not going to be the bargain when gas prices are where they are today,” Mills said. “But who expects gasoline prices to stay in that range?”

The agency has been using the fuel in several of its vehicles, but Mills’ ambition is to also run it in garbage trucks, Central Ohio Transit Authority buses and other local government vehicles.

But some area cities are wary about investing in natural gas. Gahanna is considering building a fueling station for its vehicles, but wants to wait to see how other cities use natural gas, service director Terry Emery said.

Franklin County already has two Ford sedans that run on natural gas and four vans used for animal control that use a mix of gasoline and natural gas, Ashcraft said.

But access to filling stations is a major problem, she said. The landfill’s new station nearby would be only the second natural gas station in the area.

“If you get clear up at the north side of town and you run out of gas, you’re in trouble. You can’t just stop at a BP,” Ashcraft said. “I think a lot of people are in the wait-and-let-somebody-else-do-it-first stage.”