ENOUGH power to fuel 6,000 homes will be produced at a waste dump near York thanks to a huge cash investment in three new generators.

Fuelled by gasses produced by decomposing waste, the generators at Yorwaste’s Harewood Whin landfill site, west of York, will each produce 1MW of electricity – doubling the output of the site to 6MW.

As well as providing sustainable electricity, Yorwaste bosses hope the generators will finally put an end to smells from the site during the summer, a problem which has provoked complaints from nearby residents for years.

The estimated £2.5 million generators are expected to be running in the next two weeks and have been paid for by ENER-G, a multi-national company specialising in the production of renewable energy.

Yorwaste is jointly owned by City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council and manages more than one million tonnes of waste each year.

Managing director Steve Grieve said: “They will definitely pay for themselves within a 10 year period and the energy they create is renewable.

“All together we expect it to be generated for between 15 and 20 years. This is an ecologically important development as it involves the sustainable generation of electricity without a major carbon footprint.

“Furthermore, it’s good news for local residents as this development, coupled with other steps we have already taken, will significantly reduce any possible problem with odours.

“The Harewood Whin gas field has been extended into the operational area of the landfill site, thereby drawing off gasses which might otherwise have escaped into the atmosphere, causing unpleasant smells.”

Councillor Tracey Simpson-Laing, who has led the fight to get Yorwaste to address the problem of escaping smells, said: “I really hope the generators live up to the predicted outcomes Yorwaste have put out.

“Residents in Acomb had two years of stinking summers and it’s not something I want for a third summer in a row.

“If the smells do return, I will be making representations to the Environment Agency.”


Planners weigh up bio-mass boiler scheme

UNIVERSITY officials look set to get the go-ahead for new eco-friendly energy plans when York councillors meet today.

City of York Council’s planning committee will consider an application by the University of York, which wants to build a new bio-mass boiler, two gas oil boilers and associated fuel tanks for its new campus at Heslington East.

The bio-mass boiler would provide about ten per cent of the University’s energy needs.

The University was criticised previously by the planning committee for not showing evidence of its overall commitment to sustainable energy.

Councillors called for a clear energy strategy, which has now been produced.