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Glenn Mahone/Doc Mirelson
Headquarters, Washington                May 8, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1600)

Mark Hess
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/286-8955)

RELEASE: 03-154

NASA SPACE FLIGHT CENTER MAKES ENERGY HISTORY

 At a ribbon-cutting ceremony today, NASA Administrator Sean 
O'Keefe and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Administrator Christie Whitman officially opened the federal 
government's first facility using methane gas, from a nearby 
landfill, to meet energy needs.

The project, at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) 
in Greenbelt, Md. is an innovative partnership among NASA, 
EPA, Maryland's Prince George's County, and Dallas-based Toro 
Energy, Inc. This project uses captured methane gas from a 
nearby landfill to heat the 31 buildings that dot the 
Center's 1,270-acre campus.

"Understanding and protecting our home planet is one of 
NASA's key missions," said Administrator O'Keefe. "NASA 
monitors and studies our planet from our unique vantage point 
in space, and our Earth Sciences Enterprise also looks for 
ways to improve the quality of life on Earth. This project 
directly benefits the Earth by removing a significant amount 
of methane, a greenhouse gas, from the environment. We use 
this energy, virtually pollution- free, for power. Hopefully, 
projects like these will demonstrate the clean, efficient, 
cost effective use of renewable sources of energy," 
Administrator O'Keefe concluded.  

"It is very encouraging that a large federal institution like 
NASA is using a local landfill as a source of renewable 
energy," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. "This 
project at Goddard Space Flight Center demonstrates how the 
federal government can lead the way in reducing greenhouse 
gas emissions and using alternative energy sources. These 
efforts should be applauded."

Using the methane process at GSFC eliminates the equivalent 
of the pollution generated annually by thousands of 
automobiles. In addition to the environmental benefits, NASA 
will save more than $3.5 million over the next decade in 
energy costs. It also puts NASA in the forefront of meeting a 
Presidential Executive Order, which encourages agencies to 
increase the use of biomass as a fuel source, which in turn 
reduces dependency on foreign oil.

The effort began two years ago, when Toro contacted GSFC with 
a proposal to reduce energy use without increasing operating 
expenses in an environmentally sound manner. Toro was 
selected to deliver landfill gas, produced at the Prince 
George's County, Sandy Hill Landfill, Bowie, Md. 

Toro modified two boilers in the GSFC central heating plant, 
constructed a five-mile long pipeline to transport the gas, 
and built a gas-treatment facility at Sandy Hill. The 
landfill gas provides 100 percent of GSFC heating needs 95 
percent of the time.

For more information about NASA, GSFC and Earth Science 
initiatives on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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