The manufacturing plant is located in Kentucky, the automotive manufacturer details

Mar 25, 2014 19:31 GMT  ·  By
Toyota moves to have manufacturing plant in Kentucky partly powered by landfill gas
   Toyota moves to have manufacturing plant in Kentucky partly powered by landfill gas

This past March 24, Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota went public with the news that a manufacturing plant it owns and operates in Kentucky, US would soon have part of its electricity demand met by green energy.

On its website, the Japanese company details that, to achieve this goal, it has recently entered a partnership with Waste Services of the Bluegrass.

The aim of this partnership is to have said manufacturing plant be partly powered by energy resulting from processing landfill waste originating from local sources.

Toyota estimates that, should things go according to plan, the electricity the Kentucky manufacturing plant will be delivered as part of this collaboration will cover the yearly energy need associated with the production of as many as 10,000 vehicles.

“Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. has teamed up with Waste Services of the Bluegrass to generate power from local landfill waste, marking the region’s first business to business landfill gas to energy initiative,” the Japanese automotive manufacturer writes.

“Toyota estimates the locally-generated landfill gas will supply enough power each year for the production of 10,000 vehicles,” it goes on to detail.

The company further explains that, in order to access the energy potential of landfill waste, one must collect the gas that this clean power source emits as it breaks down.

In the case of the manufacturing plant in Kentucky, the gas resulting from landfill waste is to be gathered and prepared by a network of wells. It will then be used to keep generators up and running and thus ensure a steady output of electricity.

Whatever power is produced in this manner is to be delivered to the plant by means of transmission lines. Given the fact that the facility sits just a few miles south of the landfill, this should not be an issue.

Construction activities on the network of wells and transmission lines needed to ensure the success of this initiative are set to begin sometime this coming April and end by early 2015.

Once it goes online, the system should have an output of about one megawatt of electricity per hour, i.e. the power needed to meet the demand of roughly 800 average households in the United States.

Toyota says that, by implementing this project, it will not only manage to improve on its own ecological footprint, but it will also succeed in improving on air quality in the landfill's and in the manufacturing plant's proximity.

“Landfill greenhouse gas emissions will be cut by as much as 90 percent, which adds up to better air quality for the local community,” the Japanese company argues.

Commenting on this partnership with Toyota, the current CEO of Waste Services of the Bluegrass, Todd Skaggs, stated as follows:

“As a corporate citizen of central Kentucky, we are committed to smarter and better ways of doing business to enhance our community and environment. We look forward to being a partner in Toyota’s sustainability efforts.”