Puente Hills Landfill Turns Trash Into Cash; Burns Gas to Produce Electricity
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Gas generated by the decomposition of trash at the Puente Hills Landfill is now being used as a fuel to generate enough electricity to serve 70,000 homes, the county Sanitation Districts announced at ceremonies in Hacienda Heights dedicating the landfill’s new $28-million power plant.
The landfill gas is collected from a system of 142 wells and piped to the plant, where the gas is burned to create steam to turn a steam turbine. The turbine produces 45 megawatts of electricity, which is sold to Southern California Edison Co. under a 30-year agreement. The new plant replaces a gas turbine system that had generated only 3 megawatts.
Charles W. Carry, general manager of the Sanitation Districts, said the sale of electricity will earn the agency about $24 million a year, or about twice the cost of running the system and paying for it through a lease-purchase arrangement.
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