Posted on Friday, 6th June 2008 by Keith Almli
By Nick, Section News
Posted on Fri Jun 06, 2008 at 07:08:22 AM EST
Hey, look mom, renewable energy! And from trash! The Grand Rapids Pressreports this morning on a big win-win for Kent County residents and the private sector as a deal has been struck to tap the county landfill for it’s methane gas.
A county board Thursday approved a $6 million project that will turn methane gas produced by rotting garbage at the South Kent Landfill into renewable energy.County officials said the landfill is expected to produce 3.2 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power 2,000 homes.
It also will generate profit for the county: an expected $380,000 a year to begin with and as much as $787,000 annually by the year 2030, Department of Public Works Director Douglas Wood said…
Bonus, the company tapping the gas is going to build a community education center to teach kids on field trips about alternative energy production. And unlike the city of Lansing, it doesn’t look like there are any immediate plans to tax those field trips here in Kent County.
Of that $6 million up front cost Granger, the private sector waste disposal folks behind the deal, is going to cover two thirds. That leaves taxpayers with a $2 million investment that by the most conservative estimates will be paid back in the next five years. (There have been no reports of discussions about imposing any sort of extra tax or fee to up-front that two-mil either. Neither will it be accompanied by a rate hike at the meter.)
Figure that takes us through 2014… If we’re pulling in only $500,000 a year between then and 2030, a much more conservative estimate than the County’s, that’d pump $8 million into the coffers.
Oh, and by the way, the more garbage in the dump the more methane is produced the more the taxpayers benefit. And that’s just on the public side of things. Granger is, last time I checked, a job maker. That means this deal is going to create jobs. Now just imagine if the Democrats weren’t so incensed by the idea of importing garbage to open dumps via the free market process. Suddenly we’d be talking about a whole mess of new jobs and even larger County profits.
Read on…
Posted in Democrats, Jennifer Granholm, Michigan, RightMichigan | Comments (1)
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June 6th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
[...] Urbanist wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAnd from trash! The Grand Rapids Pressreports this morning on a big win-win for Kent County residents and the private sector as a deal has been struck to tap the county landfill for it’s methane gas. A county board Thursday approved a … [...]