A new "green" way of business at Fort Benning...A landfill at the post will soon be used to generate plenty of energy for internal operations.
“There are literally thousands of landfills that are either just venting methane gas or flaring it,” said Stephen Johnson with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Now, Fort Benning and Flex Energy Incorporated are working to make good use of landfill waste on post.
“Taking waste gas, methane, and converting it to electricity and doing so with nearly zero emissions," said Johnson.
A ribbon cutting ceremony for the Flex PowerStation was held at the landfill on first division road in harmony church.
“The department of defense and the installation spends over 4 billion dollars a year, in energy,” said Johnson.
Considering that number, organizers plan for the "waste-to-energy" project to reduce the army's carbon footprint.
“That's helping to deliver environmental protection, economic development and prosperity and energy and national security."
The PowerStation has already undergone initial operations tests. A trial run in August produced up to 230 kilowatts of renewable energy.
“That's what we're doing here at Fort Benning, producing enough energy for about 250 homes with this machine."
“A pollution control device that pays for itself."
Once the final set of tests are complete, the system will start generating electricity full-time.
Tests on the Flex Powerstation are expected to wrap up within the next two weeks.
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