Fortistar, a privately owned investment firm, and Rumpke Waste & Recycling, a privately owned residential and commercial waste and recycling firm, have begun construction on the Noble Road Landfill Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Project, a $33 million transportation decarbonization project in Shiloh, Ohio.
The project will extract and capture waste methane from the Noble Road landfill in Ohio and transform it into renewable natural gas (RNG). The RNG will be distributed through a key partner, Chesapeake Utilities Corp. affiliate Aspire Energy’s pipelines. The fuel will be dispensed in fueling stations for natural gas vehicles via Trustar Energy, a Fortistar portfolio company.
Like carbon dioxide, methane is a greenhouse gas (GHG) that contributes to climate change, but is 30 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas. The Noble Road Project will capture 20,323 tons of methane emissions per year and produce RNG. Instead of simply flaring or burning the methane, the naturally occurring gas will generate sustainable energy and jobs in the community. It will produce 6.9 million gallons of gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) per year, which is enough to fuel 725 biofuel trucks – displacing diesel fuel for those vehicles – and creating approximately 35 to 40 construction jobs and three permanent green operations jobs to ensure the ongoing production of this sustainable energy source.
“We believe that this should be the future for all landfills,” says Mark Comora, president of Fortistar. “At Fortistar, we repurpose the captured methane in a way that benefits local communities, environments and economies. That’s why we’re working with Chesapeake Utilities Corp., Air Liquide and partnering with Rumpke.”
The project includes the construction of a new facility that will utilize advanced, patented technology to treat landfill gas by removing carbon dioxide and other components to purify the gas and produce pipeline quality RNG. The process includes proprietary membranes provided by Air Liquide.
This Noble Road Landfill RNG Project advances a renewable fuels growth strategy at Fortistar aimed at helping businesses and public agencies dramatically reduce GHG emissions with a cost-effective and proven solution. The project is the fourth of 12 new Fortistar RNG projects with an investment of nearly $500 million, which is expected to enter construction over the next year. When completed over the next three years, these new projects will help produce 120 million GGE of RNG.
Photo: Fortistar’s News and Events web page