GM Plant Near Fort Wayne Using Landfill Gas for Power

methane gas pump at landfill near tucson, ariz.                                                                                      photo: distraction limited (flickr)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — The General Motors factory near Fort Wayne has started using a small power plant that burns landfill gas to generate some of the factory's electricity.

Company and local officials took part in a ceremony Wednesday marking the start of operations for the $11 million project.

Installation of four electricity-generating engines began in November. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports the engines have been running at full speed for a week, providing 28 percent of the GM truck assembly plant's electricity.

GM says the 4,000-worker Fort Wayne factory is the first automotive plant in North America to operate such a system.

The project included building a pipeline to bring in the methane gas from a landfill about nine miles away.