Renewable energy proposal needs green fuel
The phrase “trash to treasure” is used for a variety of recycling efforts. But nowhere is it more applicable than in the case of the Missouri Center for Waste to Energy, the renewable energy project announced last week at State Fair Community College.
As reported by The Democrat’s Tonya Fennell, the project would “harvest landfill gas, called methane, and then convert it into electricity.” SFCC President Marsha Drennon touted it as a way to create both jobs and energy, and potentially allow the college to be powered entirely by alternative energy.
Capturing methane emitted at landfills and converting it into electricity is not a new concept, but that does not detract from the potential this project poses for Sedalia and the surrounding area. Methane conversion is only the jumping-off point for the project, which eventually could divert waste material from landfills to be burned and turned into more energy that, through green energy purchases by KCP&L, would help reduce local electricity costs.
Project consultant Mike Mills said the group has already filed a Community Development Block Grant request for $1.6 million to cover the costs of the gas collection system. When we asked him how confident he is in that request being granted, he said, “It’s hard to predict, but we feel we wrote a strong grant” application. He also noted the intense competition statewide for grant money.
The second phase of the project will cost between $5.5 million and $10 million; Mills said there are “a lot of different pots of money we intend to pursue” to cover those costs, including federal stimulus funds, economic development grants, Community Development Block Grants and U.S. Department of Agriculture funds.
All of that means this clever idea, which could have numerous positive effects locally, is reliant on a lot of people with no ties to Sedalia buying into its promise. And we wonder if the CDBG request is denied, will the project die out, or will ProEnergy Services — already a key partner in the project — or some other entity be willing to take a chance and bankroll the startup costs?
While Mills told us that local bonding for any phase is not in the plan now, he added that “you never say never.”
We are hopeful that Missouri officials will share our enthusiasm for the potential of this idea and provide the $1.6 million needed to get it off the ground. This is an opportunity to build off of the momentum initiated by ProEnergy to make Sedalia a source for innovative energy concepts, and a chance to prepare local students for the 21st century economy.
But should the CDBG request be denied, we are hopeful that won’t be the last we hear of this proposal. The Missouri Center for Waste to Energy is an investment in our community’s future.
