In keeping with its commitment to environmental responsibility, PP&L, Inc., signed an agreement today (9/23) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency joining a nationwide effort to recover and reuse landfill gas as an energy resource.

The EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program brings together land fill operators, state agencies, electric and natural gas utilities, and industry allies to encourage and promote landfill gas-to-energy projects.

"By joining the EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program, we can support air-quality improvements, help improve public health and safety, and help landfill operators tap into a potentially valuable energy resource," said Frank A. Long, executive vice president and chief operating officer of PP&L, Inc.

Landfill gas, created by decomposing garbage, is about 50 percent methane, which is a "greenhouse" gas 60 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Landfill gas also contributes to smog. According to the EPA, landfills are the largest man-made source of methane emissions in the country.

For those reasons, government regulations require many landfill operators to collect gas rather than let it escape into the air. Most simply burn off the gas they collect. Through the Landfill Methane Outreach Program, the EPA and program supporters such as PP&L, Inc., are promoting ways to use landfill gas for economic and environmental benefits.

Landfill gas can be used as a fuel to generate electricity or make steam for heating. It also can be refined to make compressed natural gas for vehicle fuel or pipeline-quality natural gas for a variety of uses.

PP&L, Inc., purchases electricity generated by several Pennsylvania landfills, and assisted one landfill operator in developing a refining system, which is being used today to produce pipeline-quality natural gas.

PP&L, Inc., supports other renewable energy projects, including purchasing electricity generated by methane gas captured from a pig farm and a sewage treatment plant.

Joining the Landfill Methane Outreach Program is just one of the voluntary efforts PP&L, Inc., has undertaken as part of its commitment to environmental quality. Those efforts include the following:

• PP&L, Inc., was one of the first electric utilities to endorse the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies' (CERES) principles for corporate environmental responsibility.
• PP&L, Inc., is participating in the U.S. Department of Energy's Climate Challenge program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• PP&L, Inc., was the first company to enter into a comprehensive, long-term agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to investigate and clean up multiple sites that may have chemical contamination from past operations.