Bishop Touts MCLB Landfill Gas Project

ALBANY, GA – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-2) today praised the steps taken by the Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) Albany together with Chevron Energy Solutions as they broke ground for the construction of the first landfill gas cogeneration project by the Department of the Navy.

Today’s ground breaking marks the first step in compliance with the EPAct of 2005 and Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which mandate a 7.5 percent renewable power use by 2013. Through the new landfill gas project, MCLB Albany will use 19 percent of renewable power.

“This is a great step in working towards meeting the Department of Defense’s goal of reducing its use of carbon-based/non-renewable fuels,” said Congressman Bishop. “Since Southwest Georgia is home to Ft. Benning, Moody Air Force Base, and Robins Air Force Base, it’s important for each to start the process of reducing non-renewable energy usage on our military bases, and I am confident the success of MCLB will set a standard that will soon be followed and upheld by the other bases in Southwest Georgia. In addition to improving our environment, the new construction is creating jobs our area desperately needs, providing benefits to our community on many levels.”

Dougherty County will extract landfill gas from the Fleming/Gaissert Road Landfill, which receives approximately 100,000 tons of municipal solid waste each year. The biological decomposition of the waste generates landfill gas that is approximately 50 percent methane gas by volume. This gas will be sold to MCLB.

By burning the collected landfill gas, cogeneration will produce approximately 1.9 megawatts of renewable electric power and steam. In addition, 82 buildings will undergo lighting retrofits. These measures will reduce MCLB’s carbon emissions by over 19,000 tons annually, which is equivilant to removing 16,000 cars from the road.

Chevron Energy Solutions developed and designed the project and will maintain the landfill gas-to-energy facility, pipeline and landfill gas processing equipment. The new facility will house a dual-fuel engine generator, a stack heat recovery steam generator and two dual-fuel boilers. The primary equipment can operate on landfill gas or natural gas, which provides energy security benefits.

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