Nov 22 2006
Ground has been broken at a new facility operated by Jenkins Brick Company in Moody, AL, USA - reported to be the first U.S. manufacturer to build next to a landfill in order to use landfill gas as a fuel. The new factory will be one of the largest brickmaking facilities in the USA and it will obtain 40% of its energy from landfill gas when it opens next year. Eventually it will run entirely on landfill gas, which is considered to be a renewable energy resource, as the plant expands over the years.
It is estimated that the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 62,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. This is the equivalent of planting nearly 14,700 acres of forest or taking 10,000 cars off of the road. Landfill gas is composed mostly of methane, which is a much more powerful greenhouse gas then carbon dioxide.
Jenkins Brick Company is headquartered in Montgomery, AL, USA, and has been using landfill gas to fuel its Montgomery brick plant since 1998. The success of this project convinced Jenkins management to build its next manufacturing facility to take advantage of local landfill gas.
The landfill owner, Jenkins Brick and Veolia Environmental Services, is a partner with the US EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program to create a first of its kind landfill gas energy project. The EPA publishes a project description on its Landfill Methane Outreach Program Web site.
St. Clair County, Alabama, commissioners helped the company select Moody to locate its brick factory by declaring the 160-acre site to be an industrial park in August. The designation helps the company apply for grants from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) as the plant expands. The county also paid a US$40,015 share of a matching grant from the Community Development Block Grant Program to build a rail spur to the industrial park.
Jenkins Brick Company is investing US$43 million in the project, and it is expected to employ between 35 and 55 people. The pipeline from the landfill to the brick factory will cost US$3 million. Because the pipe from the landfill to the Jenkins factory will cross city lines, the city expects to collect tax revenues from the project.