Amador County – Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA) has lent his support to a plan negotiated by the Architect of the Capitol in Washington D.C. to turn waste generated in the Capitol complex into energy.

Lungren promised to evaluate the plan when he assumed duties in January as Chairman of the House Administration Committee, which has oversight of maintenance and functions related to the operation of buildings in Washington. Last week he gave support to the new program, expected to save thousands annually in waste disposal and energy costs.

Reports said the Capitol will start using a “waste-to-energy” process, burning trash to generate electricity, beginning in November, according to the Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers, who reportedly signed a contract that would remove from the waste stream that solid waste which cannot be recycled.

The program will take solid waste generated in the Capitol and burn it to create energy to be used in the Capitol. The project will divert about 90 percent of the waste from the Capitol, away from landfills and into energy production. The total waste generated in the Capitol in 2010 was 5,300 tons.

Ayers said our “mission is to preserve and protect the national treasures entrusted to our care. It just makes perfect sense to fulfill our mission using sustainable practices.”

The U.S. EPA notes that solid waste “can be directly combusted in waste-to-energy facilities to generate electricity,” and “because no new fuel sources are used other than the waste that would otherwise be sent to landfills,” that waste fuel “is often considered a renewable power source.”

It said the waste burned in the practice could consist “mainly of renewable resources such as food, paper, and wood products” and “it also includes nonrenewable materials derived from fossil fuels, such as tires and plastics.”

The Hill online reported last Thursday that the “process creates usable energy employing waste that would otherwise be placed in landfills — diverting up to 90 percent of the Capitol campus’s non-recyclable solid waste.”

Lungren in The Hill story praised Ayers’ “waste-to-energy” initiative, saying he was “pleased that, after consultation with the Committee and thorough analyses,” the Architect of the Capitol “has entered into a new waste removal contract that will divert the majority of Congress’ solid waste from local landfills and save taxpayers thousands annually.”

Lungren said the practice is “woefully underutilized here in the U.S.” and it is an “environmentally efficient, cost-effective means to reduce greenhouse emissions and divert waste from landfills.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.