The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

July 10, 2008

Landfill emits $250,000 worth of methane

County government must decide whether to sell or use landfill's methane gas

T. J. ROYAL

Appalachian State University believes that North Carolina landfills produce enough methane gas to become economic boons for to their communities, including Edgecombe County.

Stan Steury, a program director at the university's Energy Center, said at Monday's county commissioners meeting that Edgecombe County Landfill emits $250,000 worth of "half-strength" methane gas each year.

Also, the "significant" amount of gas that is produced by part of the landfill would support a project for the next 15-20 years, Steury said. It is now up to the county commissioners to decide whether to burn the gas for a profit, or to use it as an energy source.

"Our goals are to create jobs and economic development" and reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, Steury told the commissioners Monday.

"(We) can do all three of these things at the same time" by collecting the methane gas and using it, he added.

The university's Energy Center has been studying landfills in Bertie, Rockingham, Columbus, Robeson, McDowell, Cleveland and Scotland counties, to see how much gas they have and how they would want to use it, Steury said.

In Columbus County, Steury said the government decided to use their landfill's methane to generate electricity. They will also use the wasted heat from the process to help produce algae, which will be used to create biodiesel fuel.

In Rockingham County, the government is considering powering an "energy park" with their gas. The park would power pottery kilns and also produce electricity for high-tech businesses, Steury said.

The other option would be to have companies pay Edgecombe County to simply burn its methane, so those companies could continue to pollute the air. The result is an overall drop in air pollution, as well as extra revenue for the county.

That is how the market for "carbon credits" works.

Steury said the United States does not have a regulated carbon credit market, but several organizations work as exchanges to gauge the credits' value.

The Chicago Climate Exchange is one such organization, and Steury said that it has already looked at the viability of Edgecombe's methane. So far, he said Edgecombe's supply appears sellable, if that's the route the county takes.

Steury also said that one such company has already expressed interest in buying Edgecombe County's methane as carbon credits. He declined to name the company, but said he expects a proposal from it within the next 30 days.

But County Commissioners Chairman Charlie Harrell said that instead of just selling the county's methane, the commissioners would "prefer creating jobs if at all possible.

"Selling carbon credits is just a monetary thing, and I think jobs are more important to us than that," Harrell said.

But County Manager Lorenzo Carmon added that even if the county government decided, in the beginning, to burn off the methane and earn revenue from it, "we're getting more out of it than we are now."

Edgecombe County's Landfill and Solid Waste Director Danny Bagley said he would like to see the county sell its gas as carbon credits initially.

"At least we'd have some income coming for the county. And we go from there," Bagley said.

Steury said the Edgecombe County Landfill would be an ideal place for a phased gas collection project. He suggested that gas-collection equipment could tap into the landfill's outer wells, to start collecting the gas. Then the proceeds from that gas could be used to build up the gas-collection infrastructure, Steury said.

The ASU Energy Center's study is financed by roughly $250,000 from the Golden LEAF and Z. Smith Reynolds foundations, and have not cost money for Edgecombe County, Steury said.

Text Only
Local News
  • Teresa Bryant headshot.jpg Bryant declines to seek re-election

    Teresa DeLoatch Bryant announced she will not seek re-election to the District 2 seat she now holds on the Edgecombe County Public Schools Board. The announcement came 91 days before the May 8 Primary Election and nearly a year after the first-term plus one year board member announced her resignation for personal and career reasons. She later rescinded her decision.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • MimiHerman.jpg W.A. Patillo receives $5,000 poetry grant

    W.A. Pattillo School has been awarded $5,000 from the North Carolina Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.
    The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Herman. Students will gain self-confidence, and will view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling, and impressions.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • IMG_5889.JPG Pizza Bowl

    The biggest football game of the year brings the largest sale of the year for two area pizza restaurants.
    Tarboro branches of Pizza Inn and Dominos Pizza are gearing up for Super Bowl XLVI Sunday by increasing their regular employee lineup by as many as seven.
    Pizza Inn is running a special that they believe will keep them busy throughout the day. Last year they sold over 200 large pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday compared to 50 on an average Sunday.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Edgecombe unemployment up in December

    TARBORO — Unemployment rates increased in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in December. Rates decreased in four counties and remained the same in three.
    Edgecombe, which saw a slight improvement in November, fell back to its October 2011 level (15.7%). Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Edgecombe and Dare are tied at third highest in unemployment. 

    February 3, 2012

  • Three ECPS campuses ahead of First Lady's nutritional guidelines

    When First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new guidelines for the nutritional overhaul of school meals last week, they could have chosen three of Edgecombe County's public schools as their models.

    February 2, 2012

  • Lynn_Cale.jpg ECC Executive Named to United Way Board

    J. Lynn Cale, associate vice president of instruction at Edgecombe
    Community College, has been named to the United Way Tar River Region
    Board of Directors.
        The Tar River Region serves Edgecombe and Nash counties. Cale
    will serve a one-year term, from January to December 2012.
        He and other board members oversee 41 local health and human
    service programs funded through United Way as well as 21 Community
    Partners and various community development partnerships.
    RIGHT: J. Lynn Cale

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Pattillo Alumni Association on the move

    The Board of Directors (BOD) of W.A. Pattillo High School National Alumni
    Association, Inc. held a meeting on Jan. 21, at Pattillo School under the leadership of its President, Dr. Fred S. Wood, Jr.  All of the officers except one were in attendance, accompanied by 9 of 16 Board Members and 9 of 10 Appointed Standing Committee Chairpersons.

    February 2, 2012

  • BandSEDriverHouse.jpg Local students selected for N.C. Eastern All-District Band

    Three Edgecombe County Public Schools students have been chosen to play in the All-District Band. Lillian House, an alto saxophone player and Kaitlin Driver, a French horn player both eighth graders from South Edgecombe Middle School and West Edgecombe Middle School eighth grade flute player, Taylor Joyner earned the honor this year and will grace the stage at East Carolina University’s Wright Auditorium Feb. 3.

    February 1, 2012 2 Photos

  • Robbery prevention

    Community education on robbery prevention shares equal importance with the search of robbery suspects. Robbery prevention may seem unachievable, but we can not continue to ignore the problem of robbery in our community. As local citizens, we should create ways in which everyone can benefit from the knowledge of robbery prevention.

    February 1, 2012

  • GHW 01-28-1221.JPG George Henry White: tribute to a great American

      Why isn’t George Henry White a household name?  If Vincent Spalding has anything to do with it, that will soon change.
         Long ignored in African American history books and recognitions, George Henry White of North Carolina was elected to Congress in 1896, and re-elected in 1898, becoming the last African American elected to Congress after Reconstruction, and the first to serve in the 20th century.

    January 31, 2012 1 Photo