Monday, January 3, 2011

Swedish City Cuts Fossil Fuel Use with Waste

A decade ago, Kristianstad, Sweden vowed to end fossil fuel use. Very close to their ultimate goal, the city of 80,000 now uses essentially no oil, natural gas or coal to heat homes and businesses. The replacement energy source comes from byproducts from the city’s farming and food processing industries. A ten-year-old plant outside of the city uses a biological process to transform wastes including potato peels, manure, used cooking oil, stale cookies and pig intestines into biogas, a form of methane. The fuel can be burned to generate electricity or refined for car fuel.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7875
Article courtesy of smart Growth Network