Feb. 4, 2017

St. Landry Parish Turns Garbage into Renewable Natural Gas (Text Version)

This is a text version of the video segment St. Landry Parish Turns Garbage into Renewable Natural Gas, which aired on Feb. 4, 2017.

JOHN DAVIS: Our success story this week takes us to St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, where one man's trash is another's fuel. The St. Landry Parish Solid Waste District collects about 300 tons of garbage a day.

As the waste in the landfill decomposes, it gives off a gas, which is mostly methane. That gas is collected, conditioned, and compressed—then dispensed as renewable natural gas at a fueling station just feet from the landfill.

KATRY MARTIN: We have the capacity here to produce about 700 gasoline gallon equivalents per day. That equates to about 200,000 gallons per year, and we'll dispense almost every bit of that.

JOHN DAVIS: About 30 vehicles in the parish run on this biogas, including refuse trucks and law enforcement vehicles.

While they are the only renewable natural gas vehicle fuel source in the state, with help from organizations like Louisiana Clean Fuels, they won't be the last.

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