Siemens Helps College with Power Project

TROY, N.Y.-Siemens Building Technologies Inc., with the help of New York Gov. George Pataki, unveiled a power project at Hudson Valley Community College that has helped the college become more energy independent, partially by converting methane gas from a local landfill into electricity.

The project is projected to save the school more than $1.3 million in energy costs while paying for the construction, operation and maintenance of the plant over a 15-year period. The college has 17 buildings and 11,400 students and is the first college in New York State to achieve energy independence using landfill gas to generate its electricity supply.

Siemens installed four cogeneration units, totaling 4.2 megawatts, that are producing electricity and capturing waste heat to supplement campus heating and cooling. One of the units is powered by methane gas transported via a 3,100-foot pipeline form a municipal landfill. The 54-acre landfill was closed about six years ago, but continues to produce methane gas as its waste decays. The other three generators are powered by natural gas.

The project helps to improve the environment by utilizing natural and landfill gases, which produce fewer emissions than other power-generating fuels such as coal or oil.

Gov. Pataki said that the project is an outstanding example of how New York is taking steps to promote and develop clean and renewable energy to protect the environment, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and encourage economic growth through new technologies.

College officials and Siemens are studying whether to tap into another community landfill in the future for access to more methane.