General Motors (GM) disclosed a $24 million investment in electrical generation equipment that will allow the company to use more landfill gas at its Fort Wayne, Indiana and Orion, Michigan assembly plants.
The new equipment will generate more than 14 MW of electricity from landfill gas, a renewable energy source, which will help GM avoid producing more than 89,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. GM will save a combined $10 million in energy costs each year at the facilities.
The investment will provide powerhouse construction at each assembly plant, as well as generation equipment and machinery.
Orion Assembly has used landfill gas since 1999. Currently it helps heat a portion of an upgraded paint shop that uses half the energy per vehicle as the one it replaced. When the electric-generation project is completed, 54 percent of Orion’s energy will come from renewable landfill gas.
Fort Wayne Assembly has used landfill gas since 2002. The investment will increase its landfill gas use 4-fold, to 40 percent. Earlier this year, Fort Wayne was named a U.S. EPA Energy Star certified facility for its prudent energy management.
Construction on both projects has begun, and is expected to be complete and operational by May of 2014.
Published in the February 2014 Edition of American Recycler News