On Thursday, October 14, the City of Dubuque and the Dubuque Metropolitan Solid Waste Agency (DMASWA) welcomed project partners and community members to a ribbon cutting for the Dubuque Power Producers LLC Renewable Natural Gas Project at the city landfill. Methane that was previously flared off is now collected  by approximately 60 gas wells  and then transferred to a processing facility where it is cleaned, processed, and inserted into the Black Hills Energy natural gas pipelines for consumer usage.

In regards to environmental impact, according to the DMASWA the project will annually, through direct and avoided emissions, reduce emissions equivalent to: Carbon sequestered by 104,534 acres of U.S. forests in one year; CO2 emissions from 257,687 barrels of oil consumed; CO2 emissions from 12,468,281 gallons of gasoline consumed; and Heating 2,763 homes.

In addition to reducing the environmental impact at the landfill, the project also generates revenue, where 3.5% of gas sale revenues—approximately $80,000 annually—earned through the gas processing goes to the DMASWA. Dubuque Gas Producers also pays an annual $10,000 license fee to use the site.

Dave Lyons, Sustainable Innovations Consultant for Greater Dubuque Development, has been a valuable asset on the project, helping bring public and private partners together and highlighting the value for both. This is the second methane conversion project in the city that Lyons has helped facilitate, the first being the biogas project at the Water Resource and Recovery Center completed in 2018.