BPU adds landfill gas energy capabilities to its electric generating mix
Helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality
(KANSAS CITY, Ks.) The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) recently partnered with Oak Grove Power Producers to purchase 1.5 megawatts of renewable landfill gas energy from the Oak Grove Landfill in Arcadia, Kansas. By adding this renewable energy technology to its generating mix, BPU is helping the environment by reducing fossil fuel emissions, assisting the economy by providing a stable source of alternative energy, and benefiting the community by improving local air quality.
As background, solid waste in a landfill gradually decomposes over time, which then in turn creates methane gas. Previously burned off as waste, new technology allows this gas to now be used as fuel to drive generators that make electricity. BPU expects this project to provide enough energy to meet the needs of 1,200 residential BPU customers annually, and looks forward to growing this number over the life of the project.
“BPU is excited to add landfill gas energy to its alternative generating mix, which currently consists of both wind and hydro power capabilities,” stated Don Gray, General Manager of BPU. “Renewable energies like this landfill gas project, coupled with BPU’s energy efficiency and demand management efforts, will provide a number of benefits to both the utility and the environment.”
These include, among other things;
- A renewable energy source without the variability of wind and solar
- Base generation without the carbon production
- Adding diversity to BPU’s renewable portfolio and its generation resource mix
- Guaranteed energy from this facility for the next 20 years
- BPU’s partnership with Oak Grove Landfill Gas, along with its participation with the Smoky Hills Wind, and its Allocation of Federal Hydropower received from the Southwest Power Administration and the Western Area Power Administration --- places BPU over the 10% Renewable Level for years 2011-2015 – positioning the utility to ‘voluntarily’ meet the Kansas Renewable Portfolio Standard enacted in May of 2009.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the annual reduction in greenhouse gases attributable to the Oak Grove Landfill project is approximately the same as the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 1,400 vehicles, the carbon dioxide emissions from more than 17,000 barrels of oil consumed, or the carbon sequestered annually by nearly 1,600 acres of pine or fir forests.
About BPU
BPU’s water department was originally created in 1909, and its electric utility was operational in 1912. The purpose of the utility, then and to this day, is to provide the highest quality electric and water services at the lowest possible cost. Today the publicly owned utility serves approximately 65,000 electric and 51,000 water customers, primarily in Wyandotte County, Kansas. The mission of the utility and its employees is “to focus on the needs of our customers, to improve the quality of life in our community while promoting safe, reliable and sustainable utilities.” BPU’s Web site is
www.bpu.com.
