Landfill helps power Marine base in Georgia

Chevron and the U.S. Navy are working together in Albany, Ga., to turn methane gas captured in a nearby landfill into renewable energy.



Chevron Energy Solutions and the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany announced the completion of the Navy’s first landfill gas cogeneration plant in a recent news release.


The plant collects gas from a nearby landfill and burns it to produces 1.9 megawatts (MW) of renewable electric power and steam.

In conjunction with the gas collection, Chevron has made retrofits to the buildings and put in place an energy management control system.

Those changes, along with the plant, have helped reduce the base’s carbon emissions by 19,300 tons annually – the same amount produced by 16,000 cars.

Because the equipment that runs the plant can run on landfill gas or natural gas, designers say the new plant not only provides reduced electricity cost, but added security benefits. 

The base now gets about 19 percent of its energy from renewable power, surpassing what federal guidelines require.

Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany in southwest Georgia covers about 3,600 acres within Dougherty County. 

The base is continuing to look for ways to become more environmentally conscious and reduce its dependence on non-renewable energy sources to increase security and reduce cost.

Kristy Hessman, EarthTechling