Dive summary:
- A landfill in Midland, Mich. is applying for a permit to use the sludge from its wastewater treatment plant to speed methane production and increase power for the cities renewable energy plant.
- Sewer sludge helps speed up the decay of household refuse, which speeds up methane production.
- The city sells the excess energy to Dow Chemical Co., right now they have about $90,000 a month worth of sales but under full production, the city would net about $690,000 per year.
From the article:
It has to go somewhere.
Treated sewer sludge could soon boost methane production for the City of Midland’s renewable energy facility, the power from which is sold to The Dow Chemical Co. to supply the Dow Corporate Center.
Midland will apply for a permit with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to use the sludge from its wastewater treatment plant to speed reactions in a bioreactor cell at the city landfill. The nutrient-rich, moist material can help quickly decay household refuse, speeding methane production. The methane is captured with underground pipes and a vacuum system, piped to a compression and dewatering facility at the landfill, and then piped to the city’s renewable energy plant near the wastewater plant. It is there that two generators create energy that is placed onto the grid. ...
