Energy commission touring North Dakota

Energy commission touring North Dakota

	Published : Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:45 By : Agencies Print this Story

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - A group of energy industry representatives appointed by Gov. John Hoeven to come up with legislative proposals kicked off its tour of North Dakota with a trip to the landfill.

'That's pretty cool when you can talk about a landfill being exciting,' Hoeven said Wednesday, after most of the commission members surveyed this city's system that turns methane gas into heat and electricity.

The 14-member group includes industry representatives from traditional energy sources, like oil and coal, as well as renewable sources like ethanol, biodiesel and wind. The commission's goal is to help increase energy production 'in an environmentally friendly way,' Hoeven said.

'We emphasize good environmental stewardship in everything we do,' Hoeven said.

The commission plans a series of meetings across the state and hopes to forward recommendations to Hoeven by next summer.

'The whole goal of this is to strengthen North Dakota's policy on energy, period,' said Terry Goerger, a Mantador farmer who represents agriculture interests. 'Hopefully we are more self-reliant when we are done. Hopefully, we are an energy exporter and building on that.'

The city of Fargo began capturing methane gas given off by decaying garbage and selling it to Cargill in 2002. Last year the city bought a generator to supply electricity for the landfill's facilities.

'This landfill that we saw today ... is no different than a gas field in western North Dakota,' said Ron Ness, representing the North Dakota Petroleum Council. 'You can hook into a value added ethanol plant or another type of plant where you can take the gas directly from the gas field.'

The methane gas project, which includes the sale of so-called 'carbon credits,' is expected to make about $700,000 a year on a $1 million investment, said Mike Williams, Fargo city commissioner.

'The city of Fargo was getting complaints about the odors,' Williams said. 'Now we are saying, 'If you can smell it, we can sell it.''