Those banana peels and paper towels discarded in the last century may have a future.

The long-dormant landfill is a simmering 50 acres of household garbage, rich with the potential to generate energy from methane gas.

Lex Kelly, county engineer with the Department of Public Works, admits that the project would be experimental and its results hard to predict.

"But if the county can make a dollar, and it helps a lot people, why not try?" Kelly said.

Kelly said the landfill energy idea originated with County Manager Cary McSwain, who asked him to look into the prospect of turning old garbage into an environmentally sound type of energy.

His research has uncovered about as many questions as answers, but Kelly did learn that Progress Energy is definitely interested. Progress Energy, which serves most of the county, is under pressure from the state to produce a percentage of energy from renewable sources, and the county landfill could well become one of those sources.

Landfill gas is 50 percent methane, carbon dioxide and other minor gases and has about half the value of natural gas.

"Once you get into it, you see there is a need," Kelly says.

Kelly sent requests for proposals to 11 vendors and received responses from three. One vendor estimated the project would gross as much as $234,000 a year for county coffers, but there was a rub - this operation would require the county to finance installation of equipment at an estimated $1 million cost, not including maintenance costs, and would take more than a year for setup.

"It would also require a lot of paperwork," Kelly told the Moore County Board of Commissioners at a recent planning retreat.

The other two proposals require no funding by the county, but the benefit is based on a far smaller estimate.

Green Energy Partners, of Greer, S.C., estimates that the county could gross $95,000 a year, and all the company would need from the county is an easement on the property. The third firm estimated a gross $23,000 under similar conditions.

But first, Green Energy Partners must determine if the landfill is a viable source of methane gas. If the Board of Commissioners approves a "letter of intent" at its meeting Monday, Green Energy will test the site to find answers.

Kelly said the contractor, once the easement is obtained, would install equipment on the site to generate and process energy for distribution through existing power lines. The project would require generators, motors, underground pipes and a pump station, all operated on methane gas.

The contractor would then sell the fuel to Progress Energy for distribution to the power company's customers.

No one knows how deep the landfill is and how long it will last, but Kelly said the contractor would determine the depth once the drilling process begins at the landfill.

The initial contract, with easement, would probably span 10 years.

The age of the county landfill is uncertain but estimated at 30 years. It dates to years before state and federal red tape required communities to maintain precise records and documentation for everything.

Kelly does know that the landfill was closed in 1993, when federal regulations imposed stringent regulations on all operations. That's when the county entered into a contract with Uwharrie Environmental, the company that owns and operates a lined landfill in Montgomery County.

Local leaders decided it would be more economical to contract the disposal of household solid waste to a private entity rather than invest in a lined landfill of its own. The Montgomery County landfill serves several counties in the region.

The old landfill was used to dispose of a wide variety of solid waste, including household waste. Concern about potential soil and water contamination led to new laws prohibiting such disposition of household waste except in high-tech lined landfills.

Emphasis was placed on recycling. Household waste that cannot be recycled must now be disposed of in a certified lined landfill.

Moore County now operates only what is known as a construction and demolition landfill, which accepts construction site waste materials and yard debris. It is located on a tract adjacent to the closed landfill.

Household waste picked up from trash collection centers and from municipalities is delivered to the transfer station at the landfill and transported to the lined landfill in Mount Gilead.

That leaves the old landfill occupying space and not contributing to the county or the environment.

Methane is one of six greenhouse gases associated with climate change, according to Environmental Impact, which says methane is about 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

The county has an agreement with Environmental Impact Research Conservation and Development, a regional nonprofit based in Aberdeen, to work with Kelly to develop the project.

For 42 years, Kelly worked for the N.C. Department of Transportation and was Division 8 maintenance engineer. His retirement was short-lived. He accepted the job of county engineer four years ago.

"I flunked retirement," he says.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at (910) 693-2479 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.