Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer and Lt. Governor Mike Foley joined vice president, Jeff Sylvester and officials from Aria Energy, Waste Connections and Constellation to officially cut the ribbon on the latest Renewable Natural Gas project. The Butler County Landfill is a regionally owned by Waste Connections, near the northeast community of David City, Nebraska. The landfill takes waste from many communities in Nebraska including Omaha.
For many years, the landfill gas was used in a nearby manufacturing plant. After the manufacturing plant determined that this source of energy was no longer meeting their needs, they turned to Black Hills Energy and Aria Energy to find a solution. Through collaboration, and the availability of renewable energy credits from the Federal Renewable Fuels Standards program, the partners determined that creating a new facility that would produce pipeline quality renewable natural gas was the best option for everyone.
Black Hills Energy upgraded nearby facilities and provided a connection to the interstate pipeline system that allows the renewable fuel credits offered by California and the federal government to encourage natural gas vehicles to be utilized. Use of this low-carbon fuel results in approximately 70 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions than from equivalent gasoline or diesel fueled vehicles. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculations, the Butler project directly reduces emissions from 5,500 tons of methane and avoids nearly 14,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, the equivalent of removing 600 passenger vehicles from the road.