Danville, Ind., U.S.A. — Waste Management of Indiana, Wabash Valley Power Association and Hendricks Power Cooperative Wednesday dedicated a renewable energy generation facility that uses gas from landfill waste to generate electricity.

The celebration marks the completion of the fourth landfill gas-to-energy plant at the Twin Bridges Recycling and Disposal Facility. With the addition of the 3.2 megawatts of power from Twin Bridges IV, the site now generates the equivalent amount of electricity to power approximately 14,000 homes.

Twin Bridges IV represents Wabash Valley Power’s 14th landfill gas-to-energy facility, each of which is located throughout the northern half of Indiana on landfills owned by Waste Management. Through an exclusive partnership, Wabash Valley Power owns the power plants, while Waste Management of Indiana supplies the landfill gas and serves as the plant operator.

“In 2007, our Board of Directors set a goal to increase our ownership of diverse fuel resources,” explained Greg Wagoner, Vice President of Business Development, Wabash Valley Power. ”Yet while we want to be proactive in our pursuit of that goal, we remain committed to the delivery of affordable, reliable power to our member cooperatives. Our partnership with Waste Management of Indiana is instrumental in this process.”

Fuel for the Twin Bridges landfill gas-to-energy facility is derived from wastes buried in the landfill, which generate methane gas. A network of recovery wells and pipes control and collect the methane and convey it to an on-site power plant. There the gas is condensed, purified and used as fuel to drive engines that, in turn, drive electricity generators.

The engines used in this process are manufactured by Caterpillar, Inc. at its Lafayette (Ind.) Engine Center. At Twin Bridges IV, two 20-cylinder engines burn landfill gas (methane), each of which generates 1.6 megawatts of electricity. The facility is designed to be scalable, with the ability to grow to four engines as the landfill’s gas generation increases in future years.

“Our goal is to operate our landfill facilities in a way that meets the highest environmental standards,” said Brad Eisenhart, Senior District Manager for Waste Management of Indiana. ”The Twin Bridges landfill and gas-to-energy facilities do that and more by managing waste gases and channeling them to generate energy. This benefits the community in way that makes our people and company very proud.”

Waste Management has established as one of its sustainability goals doubling its waste-based energy production by the year 2020, he said.  Achieving this goal would mean its facilities across North America generate power to serve more than 2 million homes.

As part of a major expansion in 1993, Waste Management committed to make Twin Bridges an environmental and a recreational asset for the Danville community. The facility includes 975 acres with 237 acres permitted for solid waste disposal. Waste Management developed the facility to serve as an important local recreational area offering the community soccer and girls softball fields, an 18-hole golf course, a trap and skeet range, an archery range and other outdoor amenities. Twin Bridges received certifications by the Wildlife Habitat Council as a Corporate Lands for Learning and Wildlife at Work facility.

Waste Management and Wabash Valley Power partner on 14 landfill gas-to-energy facilities in Cass, Elkhart, Hendricks, Jay, Lake, La Porte, St. Joseph, and White counties.

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R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor and futurist, has become a major influence in the Occupy Movement. Represented by his book, “Grunch of Giants”, and by his geodesic dome, Fuller’s spirit is infusing the hearts and minds of humanitarians working to implement global change through sustainable design science. The time for change is now, and synergy can save the world.

Fuller coined the term, “synergy”, to demonstrate how the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the individuals. Through the synergy of the inventive mind and generous hearts of humanity “Spaceship Earth” can be turned around. He understood that we have all the technology and resources necessary to foster Earth as an integrated regenerative system.

In his cautionary tale, “Grunch of Giants”, Fuller warns of the immediate dangers posed by the “invisible, abstract, and completely ruthless empire of corporations that control the world’s finances.”  It is time to create a true economy, a sustainable economy, that recognizes the proper resources and technology that will nurture and support all life.

Through design science, Fuller envisioned our entire planet operating with a higher standard of living. The Buckminster Fuller Institute is promoting design science through The BFI Challenge which awards $100,000 to support the development of strategies to solve world problems.

Buckminster Fuller’s most famous invention, the geodesic dome, is the strongest structure known to man. Pacific Domes has helped to supply the Occupy Movement with their portable domes in four key locations: Occupy UC Davis, Occupy Buffalo NY, Occupy Eugene, and Occupy Harvard University.

Following Fuller’s lead, Pacific Domes has been working to create sustainable solutions for humanity for 30 years and is now actively supporting the Occupy Movement as well as many sustainable Earth projects, including Bee Restoration, Bio-Energy, Aquaponics, Mycological Restoration, and Eco-Living. Pacific Domes has plans to support a further vision “Occupy Earth”.

Occupy Earth will be a global organizational tool to help educate and create sustainable villages all over the globe. Pacific Domes is currently working with The Global Eco-Village Network to create a database that will support the birth of a new world.

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