NCC Teaches Students about Sustainable Energy

Students from Northampton Community College (NCC) took a field trip to the Waste Management’s Grand Central Landfill in Pen Argyl, PA this winter with the goal of understanding how municipal solid waste could be used to generate electricity. Sustainable energy and electrical technology majors learned how this process can be an economical and viable way to power homes and businesses. 

As the organic waste material decays at the landfill, it generates methane gas. The landfill has a complex gas collection and control system composed of a number of landfill wells and related equipment that gathers the gases produced by the decomposition of organic material within the landfill. From there, the gases are processed, compressed and then filtered through to the Green Knight Energy Center at the landfill where the gas is used to run turbine engines, which are connected to generators producing electricity. The Green Knight Energy Center generates enough environmentally friendly electricity to power 5,000 homes, and the output from the generators is connected to the power grid, a complex system that delivers electricity from producers to consumers.  

“Being able to experience the operation of a landfill, and seeing the enormous amounts of waste that are brought to the site every day, creates a lasting understanding of what our lifestyles generate in terms of waste. We must pay attention to our overuse of natural capital and the continued depletion of the resources the planet provides,” said Robert Trate, industrial technology instructor at NCC. 

Waste Managment Grand Central Landfill’s Community Relations Specialist, Adrienne Fors, and Gas Operations Manager, Ian Moore, provided educational sessions, which included a tour of the Green Knight Energy Center and the landfill operations.  

NCC student, Ana Ruth Reis de Souza, attended and said, “The tour of the landfill was enriching, and it was interesting to see the layers used to protect the soil before the waste is deposited. We were able to see how the waste containment system works to prevent it from being dispersed by the wind. Field trips like these contribute a lot to our learning.” 

^{Pictured from left to right: Helena McCarthy, Nelson LeBron (WM Gas Plant Mgr.), Shamsudeen Shaibu, Bob Trate, and Ana Ruth Reis de Souza.}

Use of Landfill gas to generate power helps conserve our nation’s energy resources and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. The amount of methane gas produced at the landfill is equivalent to about 236,000 barrels of oil per year. 

“This was an outstanding experience for all and a reminder that we must work to utilize energy conversion from the use of biomass to become more energy efficient,” said Tate.