Livingston Landfill Methane Generation Plant
Hoosier Energy added the 14-megawatt Livingston, Illinois landfill-gas-to-energy renewable energy facility to its power production portfolio in November 2011.
American Disposal Services of Illinois, Inc., a Republic Services Company, (NYSE:RSG), operates the Livingston Landfill, which supplies fuel to the renewable energy facility located near Pontiac.
Electricity produced at the plant is enough to provide power for about 9,000 homes that typically use 1,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month.
The 460-acre landfill site is located in Livingston County about 100 miles southwest of Chicago. Republic employs approximately 50 people at the facility. The Livingston gas project is one of 70 landfill gas and renewable energy projects at Republic facilities.
Commissioned in 2001, the plant is powered by three Solar Caterpillar Taurus 60 turbine engines. The facility has not been operated since 2006. Energy from the plant is delivered to the electric grid through an interconnection with Illinois utility, ComEd.
Landfill biogas, which is created when organic material in a solid waste landfill decomposes, consists of about 50 percent methane. Landfill generation projects contribute to reduction of greenhouse gases by destroying the methane and by avoiding the need for energy from non-renewable sources.