Landfill Gas-To-Energy Project

BMW Manufacturing has taken its efforts to improve the environment a step further. Our Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project is designed to reduce the amount of harmful gas released into the air. BMW is able to utilize a wasted energy source by transforming the methane gas produced from the nearby Palmetto Landfill into electricity and heat for the plant. The factory has also moved forward with a project expansion that utilizes landfill gas to fuel 23 oven burners in the paint shop and to supply indirect heat to the area.

The methane is a byproduct of decomposing trash and can have harmful effects on air quality. By turning this methane into energy, BMW Manufacturing reduces carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to removing 61,000 automobiles from US highways each year. The "green power" harnessed by this project also equals the amount necessary to heat 15,000 homes a year.

Project Facts

• The energy provided by recycled methane gas supplies BMW Manufacturing Co. with 63% of its energy needs.
• To utilize the gas, a 9.5-mile pipeline was built from Palmetto Landfill to BMW Manufacturing Co. BMW's project is unique in the fact that most other landfill gas projects create energy at the landfill and send through wires. BMW pipes gas to drive generators.
• BMW's landfill project is the only project that co-generates electricity and hot water for use at an industrial location remote from the landfill.
• Landfills are the largest man-made methane source in the United States. Methane is produced as trash decomposes. When released into the air, it is a greenhouse gas and contributes to local smog conditions.
• By recycling methane gas, BMW is able to improve local air quality by lowering regional emissions of greenhouse gases (methane and carbon dioxide).
• BMW's landfill gas-to-energy project reduces carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to driving 116 million miles per year or more than 4,300 times around the earth.
• BMW's landfill gas-to-energy project recovers sufficient energy to heat the equivalent of 15,000 homes per year.
• Ameresco designed, built and owns the pipeline, gas processing and gas compression facilities, as well as manages the overall operations of the project.
• Waste Management, which owns and operates the Palmetto Landfill, has been developing landfill gas-to-energy projects for more than 15 years and currently supplies landfill gas to more than 100 gas-to-energy projects in 21 states.
• BMW is a charter member of the EPA's National Environmental Achievement Track that recognizes companies for their environmental stewardship and performance. The company is also a member of the South Carolina Environmental Excellence Program and is on the Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index, which rates environmentally friendly companies.

Paint Shop Expansion Facts

• BMW Manufacturing is the first automotive company in the world to use "green" energy to fuel its painting facility.
• The expansion was a joint effort with Dürr Systems, a German-based company that builds and maintains all BMW paint shops.
• The paint shop is the largest consumer of energy within the factory.
• Landfill gas is used to fuel 23 paint shop oven burners and to provide indirect heat for the area.
• The use of methane from the landfill gas project greatly reduces the paint shop's reliance on natural gas and better utilizes the previously untapped methane.
• This expansion will achieve a CO2 reduction of approximately 17,000 tons per year.