Toyota to generate electricity from landfill

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In a major step toward reducing air pollution, Toyota announced that its Georgetown, Ky., manufacturing plant will begin generating electricity from methane, a byproduct of trash decomposition at the nearby Central Kentucky Landfill on Nov. 23, 2015

The automaker plans to generate one megawatt (1 million watts) per hour at the site, said Toyota’s environmental strategies manager Dave Absher.  “That’s enough annual energy generation to produce approximately 10,000 vehicles. The system can eventually be scaled up to 10 megawatts per hour.”

Toyota’s global headquarters recently announced a very aggressive goal of largely eliminating CO2 emissions from its vehicles and manufacturing plants by 2050.

The launch of the Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle this year; making its fuel cell patents available to other automakers; and developing manufacturing technologies that use hydrogen as a power source are specific initiatives mentioned within the plan.

Alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and locally produced renewable energy also will be required to achieve the goal.

The project is collaboration between Toyota’s Georgetown manufacturing plant and the Central Kentucky Landfill owned and operated by Waste Services of the Bluegrass.

Landfills are required to monitor methane levels and report these levels to the EPA. Capturing and burning the methane has been determined by the EPA to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Rajani Baburajan

[email protected]