Harvesting methane–and money–from sewage
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has identified Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant as a prime site for methane gas harvesting, a process which has been bringing in approximately $11 million annually from the Freshkills Park site. While the decision has not yet been made to implement the plan, collection is proposed to begin in 2011 and would convert methane–a byproduct of anaerobic organic decomposition released during raw sewage processing at the plant–into energy for use in about 2,750 Greenpoint homes. Officials have chosen the Greenpoint facility because of its proximity to a National Grid gas line.
(via The New York Daily News)
