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Energy Xchange Turns Trash into Wealth and Beauty
by Josh Doby
The Old landfill with gas collection point
Potter at Work
Glass Blower's Tools
Greenhouse
The Kiln
The Factory Outlet
Energy Exchange
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The signs lead up a long and winding road just west of Burnsville. Looking to the right while coming up to the top of the hill you notice patches of grass. Underneath the grass lies an old dump that has been converted into an alternative fuel source.
This formerly useless dump now provides energy for artists as well as income for local farmers.
Energy Xchange uses methane gas, produced by bacteria in the process of decomposing garbage, to heat greenhouses and provide the energy needs of four potters and two glass blowers.
Using methane as energy is not a new concept. It has been used in many facilities across the country. Leon Taylor, a board member of the Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development Project Board, saw one of these facilities in Florida, and thought that a similar place in Western North Carolina would do great things for the local economy.
In 1994 the Yancey County dump, like others, was under a Federal mandate to be capped. The amount of methane available from the dump was unexpected. Such a small dump normally produces much less. When the excess was realized, Taylor and Hand Made in America worked to start an art program.
The newest artists are Lindsay Rogers, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence college of Bronxville, New York, and Dave Gagerty, a graduate of Southern Illinois University. They were ecstatic to find a place to prefect their craft at such a reasonable price. Rogers said that most of the studios she came across cost $600 a month or more for just workspace.
Energy Xchange is only charges $230 a month, and according to Rogers that pays for not only a workspace but a personal computer (which remains property of Energy Xchange after artists leave), an office, business classes and full access to the gas kiln. Rogers says gas kiln firings elsewhere cost $100-$300 for a single firing. There is also a gallery open to the public for the artists to display their work and, unlike other galleries that take 40-50 percent commission, Energy Xchange takes only 25 percent. The money covers maintenance and pays for a credit card machine that an artist can take to shows.
Energy Xchange's art program is meant to prepare artists for owning their own business, and it is hoped that after their three years in the program they will have enough experience to do well.
Energy Xchange has programs for not only artists but also local farmers. Tobacco farmers in the area were starting to lose their allotments. So Terry Woodriff, the project manager during the original capping, thought they might sell ornamental plants to make ends meet. With the help of extension agent Joe Conner, he helped write a procedure for growing azaleas and rhododendron from seed.
These plants have promise because many are localized species and are well suited for the acidic local soil. Energy Xchange attempted to grow ferns and annual flowers, but that proved impractical. The profit in ferns and annual flowers grossed $19,000 when the overhead cost was $16,000.
In 2002 Mark Norwood, now head of the groundskeeping staff at Mars Hill College, started work at Energy Xchange. Norwood did many of the repairs and upgrades, including repairing all of the gas systems and installing a solar water heater used in experiments in aquaponics.
Aquaponics uses the relationship between fish -- in this case tilapia -- bacteria, and plants to create a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Unfortunately Energy Xchange is starting to run out of gas. The rate of methane production follows a bell curve, and Energy Xchange is now on the descending side of the curve. The dump closed down in 1993 and was capped in the late 1990s. Most dumps used for methane production have over a million tons of garbage. Energy Xchange only has 433,000 tons.
Even after methane production stops at Energy Xchange, the legacy will live on through similar facilities, each improving on the previous ones. A facility is being built in the Ohio Valley that can be torn down and rebuilt in a different location every time methane production stops.
Energy Xchange has had to use trial and error to see what works and what doesn't, what's practical and what's not. In doing so, Energy Xchange is blazing the trail for future organizations.
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