Title: County government led EIP development using municipal biomass resources for clean energy production, a case study of the Catawba County North Carolina EcoComplex

Authors: Jeremy C. Ferrell; Abolghasem Shahbazi

Addresses: Energy & Environmental Systems, North Carolina A&T State University, 1601 E. Market St., Greensboro, NC 27411, USA ' Chemical, Biological and Bioengineering Department, NC A&T State University, 1601 East Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA

Abstract: The Catawba County North Carolina, USA EcoComplex and Resource Recovery Facility is an eco-industrial park (EIP) whose mission is synergistic waste and resource management, renewable energy production, and local economic development through public and private partnerships. The EcoComplex is a 326 hectare site centred on the Blackburn Landfill with 2.4 million metric tons of waste in place and serves the 156,000 county residents, receiving 484 tons/day of MSW and 80 tons of construction wastes per day. The site hosts a grid-tied 3MW landfill gas to energy project (LFGTE) using three GE-Jenbacher spark-ignition engines, a biodiesel facility with 379,000 LPY capacity and a crop processing facility that provides feedstock utilising buffer lands on-site to grow oilseed crops. This paper details the existing and impending biomass energy systems, applications of industrial symbiosis, and the use of public and private partnerships to leverage this municipal landfill as a hub for clean energy development.

Keywords: industrial ecology; EIP; eco-industrial parks; municipal government; landfill gas; PPPs; public-private partnerships; biomass; bioenergy; biofuels; Catawba County EcoComplex; USA; United States; clean energy production; case study; waste management; resource management; renewable energy production; local economic development; feedstock; oilseed crops; industrial symbiosis.

DOI: 10.1504/PIE.2015.069835

Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal, 2015 Vol.9 No.1, pp.69 - 81

Accepted: 14 Jul 2014
Published online: 13 Jun 2015 *

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