Ameresco, a cleantech integrator specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, has been selected by Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District (WIWMD) to design, build, own, and operate a landfill gas to renewable natural gas (RNG) plant at the Davis Landfill in Layton, UT.
The project is Ameresco’s second landfill gas beneficial use arrangement with the district. The facility will capture naturally occurring landfill gas, primarily composed of methane, resulting from the decomposition of organic waste and transform it into a renewable energy resource.
The green energy expected to be produced by the plant will reduce over 953 million pounds of CO2 emissions annually, equivalent to the carbon sequestered by removing 79,223 cars from the road or planting over 98,000 acres (about more than half the size of Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks combined) of forests.
Ameresco will be responsible for design, engineering, construction, commissioning, and operations of the facility. The project is expected to replace the use of over 8 million BTUs annually of fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, once completed.
Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District is a quasi-governmental Utah special service district covering Davis and Morgan counties. The district was formed in 1984 to focus on waste and recycling programs.
Methane is considered multiple times more damaging as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, according to many environmental scientists.
Many customers in the commercial and industrial sectors are pursuing RNG supply deals. Ameresco, for example, is working on a similar landfill gas-RNG project in Illinois, while on-site power generator firm Enchanted Rock signed a deal with Microsoft to supply RNG for data center power in California.
