“The uniqueness of this project is that it’s not only one of the largest ones of its type in North America, but it’s also really set the bar in terms of emission standards,” said Mike Bakas, vice president of renewable energy for Ameresco, the plant designer and operator.
The plant is primed to generate about 11.4 megawatts of electricity – enough to power more than 11,900 homes day and night – for the cities of Palo Alto and Alameda. To do that, executives at Republic Services Inc. built a system that sucks hazardous gases emanating from decaying waste in the depths of the landfill and routes them to a series of mobile home-sized generators that produce renewable energy around the clock. Without the generators, the gases would be directed to a separate facility at the landfill to be reduced to less harmful emissions and released into the atmosphere.
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