Top Stories 2014: #9 — $14M biofuel facility opens in Pierce County

December 18, 2014 4:10 pm
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Tacoma Daily Index is looking back at the 10 most popular and most read articles among visitors to our Web site. Enjoy!

Pierce County became the latest major player on Washington State’s clean energy front during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in February to mark the completion of a new $14 million methane gas conversion site in Graham, Wash. (see “$14M biofuel facility opens at LRI Landfill,” Tacoma Daily Index, Feb. 12, 2014)

The facility, which is located at the 168-acre LRI Landfill and is a partnership between Waste Connections and BioFuels Washington, captures methane generated by decomposing garbage at the landfill and converts it to useable compressed natural gas that is purchased by Puget Sound Energy and used to produce electricity. The plant officially opened on Dec. 23, 2013, and produces enough electricity to support 3,375 area homes annually. At its maximum production, the facility is expected to produce enough electricity to power more than 10,000 homes per year.

“Washington State has always been a place of innovation and partnership,” said Washington State Governor Jay Inslee. “This facility is another example of what we can accomplish together through public and private partnerships to provide for future generations.”

To read a monthly breakdown of the Tacoma Daily Index‘s most read articles of 2014, click on the following links:

Todd Matthews is editor of the Tacoma Daily Index, an award-winning journalist, and author of A Reporter At Large: A decade of Tacoma interviews, feature articles, and photographs. His journalism is collected online at wahmee.com.

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