Turning Trash Into Gas

By Pat Peterson Reporter

Bay Minette wants to turn household trash and garbage into alternative fuel sources Turning Trash Into Gas

Published: Wed, September 17, 2008 - 5:00 pm Last Updated: Wed, September 17, 2008 - 6:01 pm

Pat Peterson

A 195-thousand dollar state grant could help the city of Bay Minette save money on gas while helping the environment. City leaders will use the grant to put together a feasibility study on converting trash and garbage into synthetic fuel.

"I think it's great the we got the grant from the governor," says Bay Minette city councilman Mike Phillips. "We'd in turn use that diesel for our garbage trucks, our city fleet and our equipment."

Instead of sending trash and garbage to the county landfill, debris would be sent to a local bio-fuel producer and converted into fuel.

"We can take paper, plastic, broken chairs, anything that ever grew we can turn it into fuel," says Allen Boykin, president of Cello Energy in Bay Minette. "We could take 86 percent of the city's waste and turn it into fuel."

"We spend 12 to 14-thousand dollars a month on getting rid of our garbage," says Phillips. "We hope this study will help us find a way to reduce that by 75 percent. We're confident this study will work."

Auburn University will also work with Bay Minette and Cello Energy on the feasibility study. The study should be completed in about six months.