By MATT GIANQUINTO
As President Obama signed the stimulus package into law yesterday, elected officials continued to lobby for the funding of shovel-ready projects in their cities to get America back to work.
The $787 billion measure is designed to jump-start an economy in tailspin by distributing federal funds for health care, green energy investment, and infrastructure projects. Portions of the package will be used to fill some of the gaps in state and local budgets, but it will also be used to create jobs primarily through the improvement of local infrastructure.
Obama signed the package in Denver as a nod to that city’s commitment to green technology and environmental friendliness. He might as well have been in Stamford. One of the projects Dan Malloy will be working hard to secure funding for is a new power plant that runs on the most renewable of energy sources, dried wastewater.
“In Stamford, Conn., city officials are eager to build a power plan that would run on dried wastewater, a renewable energy source that can be used to generate electrical power. The $50 million-$60 million plant would create about 120 jobs and fits well with Obama’s goal of developing clean energy sources, Democratic Mayor Dannel Malloy says” (Mimi Hall, USA Today 2/2/09)
When it is constructed—with or without stimulus funding—the Stamford Bio-Gas plant project will stand as a symbol of good government at work. While most cities pay to have waste materials taken away and burned, Stamford will use the resource in a safe and clean way to help address another challenge of our lives today, energy costs. 10% of the 10MW produced by the plant will power the plant itself, the other 90% will be sold into the grid.
“This is a win-win for our city,” Malloy told Global Water Intelligence. “We can use the sludge to generate environmentally friendly renewable energy that will also ultimately save us money.” (Kathy Shandling, Global Water Intelligence vol. 10, issue 1, Jan. 2009)
It’s just one project among thousands being fought for within the stimulus funding, but it is going to save money, it is going to protect the environment, and it will put eager shovels in the ground. It will be the first of it’s kind anywhere on the globe, and it’s happening right in Stamford.
For more information on the Stamford Bio-Gas project and the Stamford Water Pollution Control Authority, visit www.StamfordBioGas.com
There is some issue with using the pellets that the sewage treatment plant has been working with. I believe that there is a state law that will need to be changed for this to progress. That and the interesting glass-like residue that occurs when they burn the stuff.
I appluad your initative and out of the box thinking and I am looking forward to supporting your run. As a suppoter I want to caution your proposal on the waste energy project. This has been pushed by unsavoy characters on many a community. One in particular if memory serves was a decades long attempt by Cobb County Ga. Hundrends of millions spent on a completely automated system that provided only two jobs. It eventually was declared insolvent as the technical issues and the complaints of residents down wind were never resolved, nor did it ever produce one watt. I belive indictments came out of that. Be carefull Dan, you can do alot of good but cant do anything if you get mired down in muck. Do your homework and we will do our best for you, we only ask the same from you.
P.S. excellent work on Murdochs network. Go Dan!