RIVERVIEW (WWJ) — DTE has figured out how to turn household trash into clean energy.
Officials with the utility company on Thursday unveiled new technology at a Riverview facility that converts biogas from a Downriver landfill into renewable natural gas (RNG), which DTE says will soon fuel vehicles as a cleaner alternative resource.
It's all part of the DTE Vantage program, an effort designed to find environmentally friendly ways to generate green power.
DTE's Kevin Dobson explained the process to WWJ’s Tim Pamplin at a Thursday ribbon cutting ceremony for the Riverview facility.
“As waste breaks down in a landfill, it creates this biogas — it’s a harmful greenhouse gas — and what this facility here does, it’s able to process that, treat it and turn it into pure natural gas that we can actually use as a vehicle fuel,” Dobson said.
The gas can then be used to generate energy for natural gas vehicles such as buses and trucks.
“This is a really good use of a gas that would otherwise go to waste,” Dobson said. “It’s reducing greenhouse gasses, it’s bringing investments, it’s bringing jobs into a local community, and it’s helping the city of Riverview, it’s helping DTE and it’s helping the environment overall.”
Along with powering vehicles, this clean compressed natural gas can be added to the consumer pipeline to fuel homes in the area.
“The greenhouse gas we capture and utilize at the Riverview Land Preserve landfill not only reduces carbon emissions in the area but also displaces higher-emissions transportation fuels for greater environmental benefit, all while generating additional income for the City,” Dobson said, per a press release. “We are working closely with City of Riverview officials to coordinate the ongoing project, which leverages DTE Vantage’s growing network of RNG resources and capabilities.”