The Johnstown Redevelopment Authority partnered with Keystone Renewable Energy and our major industries, in cooperation with Waste Management, Inc., to revitalize the City of Johnstown through the Rager Mountain and Somerset Methane Recovery Projects. With these entities committed and three well-positioned landfills nearby, Johnstown was a prime location for advanced energy development. These renewable energy projects provide an opportunity to offer a clean and renewable energy source from the methane gas naturally produced from surrounding landfills. This previously untapped energy source represents an economic growth and development opportunity by providing a cheaper and environmentally friendly energy option to large industrial and commercial users of natural gas, and puts landfills to good use, as well as reducing the air pollution caused by allowing the methane to either be burned at the landfill site or escape into the atmosphere.
The methane projects include three local landfills owned by Waste Management, miles of pipeline and two landfill gas cleaning plants. Processed gas will be delivered from the landfill sites to Johnstown’s major industrial and commercial customers that were part of the efforts to bring renewable energy to the area. Six million dollars has already been invested to date on the Rager Mountain project and an additional $15 million will be required for construction of the pipelines and processing equipment for Phase II – Somerset.
The goals of the project were both economic and environmental. They included delivering a long-term supply of low-cost, reliable, renewable energy to manufacturing and industrial customers – which in turn can lower production costs, create jobs, and attract new business for Johnstown and the Commonwealth and significantly reduce local reliance upon natural gas while lowering contributions to air pollution.
The Methane Recovery Projects also provide potential long-term environmental benefits. Municipal solid waste landfills are the largest human-generated source of methane emissions, a very potent greenhouse gas. The collection and use of first year landfill gas flow is equivalent to taking 162,000 cars off the road, planting 225,000 acres of trees, preventing the use of 1,755,000 barrels of oil and heating more than 45,000 homes. The recovery of the methane gas also reduces the use of fossil fuels, which reduces air pollution and improves the quality of air near the landfills.
