According to the county, it operates a landfill gas collection and control system at the Central Maui Landfill which collects methane gas produced during the anaerobic decomposition of the municipal solid waste deposited at the site.

The county has been flaring the gas since 2008 to prevent environmental damage.

The landfill gas collection and control system has been constructed to meet the requirements of the New Source Performance Standards 40 Code of Federal Regulations, and features vertical extraction wells and transmission lines to the flare system that burns off the methane gas.

“One of my initial goals after taking office in January of this year was to utilize this methane resource that we are currently wasting,” explains Mayor Alan Arakawa.

The Request for Proposals seeks to engage potential developers to take the collected methane gas and convert it into electrical power. Instead of burning the methane gas, the County will reap the benefits of “free” power at the site, in addition to royalties from the sale of excess power.

Arakawa estimates that there could be as much as 1 MW of electrical power could be generated by the landfill gas.