Waste gases fuel 6,000 more homes

YORWASTE, the North Yorkshire recycling and waste management company, is doubling the amount of electricity it generates from its Harewood Whin landfill site to 6MW – enough to power more than 6,000 homes.

Three new generators, fuelled by gases produced by decomposing landfill materials, will each provide 1MW of electricity to the national grid from the York site.

They will double the current output of 3MW produced by existing generators.

Yorwaste managing director Steve Grieve said: “This is an ecologically important development as it involves the sustainable generation of electricity without leaving a major carbon footprint.

“Furthermore, it is good news for local residents as this development, coupled with the other steps we have already taken, will significantly reduce any possible problem with odours.”

He added that the Harewood Whin gas field had been extended into the operational area of the landfill site, thereby drawing off gases that might otherwise have escaped into the atmosphere, causing unpleasant smells.