Green gas could add fizz to Coke - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Coke is said to be considering tapping two Atlanta landfills as a sourceof clean-burning natural gas. Methaner is naturally produced during decomposition oflandfill waste. , which owns the gas rightx at DeKalb County’s Live Oak landfill, hopes to processz methane gas from the nearbyg Hickory Ridge landfillinto clean-burningb natural gas. An out-of-state utility has expressedc interest in investing inthe project, a source said. “There’z no secret that we have talked to a numbetr of potential partners aboutt joining us onthe [Live Oak] Jacoby Group’s John Borden said. Those potential partners include utilities and privateequitty investors.
Negotiations are under way, but “wse do not have the entire deal even under letterfof intent, much less said an official with Atlanta-based Global Energy a subsidiary of (Amex: GNH). Global Energy paid more than $3 million to acquire the Hickory Ridges landfill gaspurchase rights. While Coca-Colq declined to comment on any involvement with the potentialolandfill project, the company wants to add some green to its trademarj red. “Our aspirational goal is to grow the notthe carbon,” said Bruce Karas, director of sustainability, environmen t and safety at Coca-Cola North America.
“Energy projects are really the sweet spot for Live Oak is the largest renewable energy program involving methane gas in the state and one of two operation of its kindin Georgia. The landfill, whicnh closed in 2004 and is said to have an atleasf 20-year supply of methane, produces enougyh natural gas to fuel about 22,000 homes. The conversion methocd used at Live Oak involveas capturing the emittedmethane gas, removing the compressing the gas and filtering it through a membrane to remove impurities. Jacoby has partnerefd with to distribute the natural gas generated atLive Oak. “Any deal we do would preserve theexistinyg relationships,” Borden noted.
The Hickoryh Ridge landfill is expecteed to produce atleast 2,00o standard cubic feet of landfill gas per minute, Mike Ellis, presidentr of Global Energy Systemas told Biomass Magazine in February. Globa Energy will construct a pipelinr to transport it to its gasconditioningv facility, where it will be converted into a saleable energhy product, the magazine noted. Globak Energy, which has gotten hit by the recession, is selling assete — including real estate — to raise cash to invest in its biomass, landfill gas and energy services business, Ellis told Atlanta Businesz Chronicle. “We are liquidating assets and selling assets to put intoenergy products,” Ellixs said.
In April, the diversifierd renewable energy company’s accounting firm issued a “goingy concern qualification” raising substantial doubtf about its ability to remainin business. Coca-Colaz is investing in long-term “energu innovation” such as fuel cell technologyh to power its facilities and directfire water-heating technology — nearly a third more efficientr than conventional boilers for syrup manufacturing. The companty switched 70 percent of its fleet of 800 sale vehicles to hybridslast year. As of summere 2008, the company had saved about $400,00o in fuel costs, Karas said. At its Paw Paw, Mich.
-baser juice manufacturing plant, Coke is recycling produced in the wastewatertreatment process, into an energy source to power boilers. That processx promises to reducethe plant’z natural gas consumption by 10 percent and save Coke “hundredsd of thousands of dollars” annually. Coke plansd to reduce its global CO2 emissions by 5 percenfby 2015, Karas said. “Only by doint these kinds of combinations of efficiench plus innovation can you get he said. The return on investment for environmentalp sustainability, Karas said, cannot be measured just by thecorporate bottom-line.
“If I can have a projecyt that gives me a 10 percent offset on a naturaol resourcethat I’m using, the savingw are huge,” he said. “There’s really not an issue with justifyinyg it.”