Company to use landfill's methane waste to help fuel ethanol plant

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) Methane gas generated from decomposing solid waste will soon help power a South Dakota ethanol plant.

The city of Sioux Falls today signed an agreement with ethanol producer Poet to build a 10-mile low-pressure methane pipeline from its landfill west of town to a Poet plant near Chancellor.

Construction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2009.

Poet officials say the methane will initially displace 10 percent of the Chancellor plant's natural gas usage. That will increase to 30 percent in 2025 as additional methane is generated.

Sioux Falls Public Works Director Mark Cotter says the project will cost the city about $4.3 million and generate about $1.8 million in annual gross revenue.

On the Net: Poet: http://www.poetenergy.com/ (By AP Writer Dirk Lammers)

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 04-10-08 1717CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list