BMW is the first automotive paint shop to integrate the use of landfill gas in its process equipment.

BMW is working with partner Durr Systems of Plymouth, Mich., who specializes in developing and implementing energy performance projects in industrial facilities and is a partner in the EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program, which helps businesses lower operating costs, protect the environment and build a sustainable future.

BMW announced in 2002 that a 9.5-mile pipeline had been constructed from the landfill to its facility to provide some of the plant's energy needs. With this latest announcement, about half of BMW Manufacturing's energy is now provided by this renewable resource, saving the company at least $1 million per year in energy costs.

By utilizing previously unused energy from landfill gas, BMW Manufacturing is reducing area emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, by approximately 17,000 tons and is recovering enough energy to heat 10,000 homes per year. The quantity of greenhouse gases reduced is the equivalent of driving a car around the globe 4,300 times, or more than 100 million miles.

Landfills are the largest human-made methane source in the United States. Methane is produced as waste decomposes. When released into the air, it is a greenhouse gas and contributes to local air pollution.

"Three of our core principles are innovation, protecting the environment, and being a good corporate citizen," said Briggs Hamilton, BMW Manufacturing's environmental section manager. "This is such a positive for everyone involved. There literally hasn't been a downside to this project. This project allows us to take a previously wasted energy source and use it to generate electricity, which protects the environment and our community through lower emissions."

The efficient cogeneration of electricity and hot water has been a part of BMW's overall plan since construction began on this plant in 1993. The move to use recycled landfill gas to power the paint shop began in 2004.

"The paint department is the largest consumer of energy in any automotive manufacturing plant," said Dara Leadford, an engineering section manager who has been working on the project. "Fifty percent of our energy is used in the paint department for controlling the process environment that is a necessity for a quality surface finish."