BMW Using Recycled Methane Gas as Energy Source; EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman on Hand

SPARTANBURG, S.C., April 30 -- BMW Manufacturing Corp. fully began recycling methane gas as an energy source, it was announced today. The recycled methane gas, drawn from the Palmetto Landfill near Spartanburg, will supply BMW with 25 percent of its energy needs. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christine Todd Whitman participated in the announcement.

"This is a win-win for everyone. It avoids the need to vent methane directly into the air at the landfill. It yields significant amounts of clean energy. And, by avoiding 55,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, it results in cleaner, healthier air for everyone to breathe," said Whitman.

"BMW wants to do whatever it can to make Upstate South Carolina a better place to live," said Dr. Helmut Leube, president of BMW Manufacturing Corp. "This project allows BMW to take a wasted source of energy and use it to generate electricity, which benefits the environment and area residents through lower emissions."

BMW's project is unique in that the methane gas is used to fuel four turbines at the BMW factory, which produce electricity and hot water. This efficient cogeneration of electricity and hot water has been a part of BMW's overall plan since construction began on the plant in 1993.

BMW's Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project supports the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts in the Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), which began in 1994 as a means of converting landfill gas into clean-burning, cost- effective, useable energy.

BMW is a charter member of the EPA's National Environmental Performance Track that recognizes companies for their environmental stewardship and performance. The company is on the Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index, which rates environmentally friendly companies.

  Fact Sheet: BMW Manufacturing Landfill Gas Project

  * The energy provided by recycled methane gas will supply BMW
    Manufacturing Corp. with 25% of its energy needs.

  * To utilize the gas, a 9.5-mile pipeline was built from Palmetto Landfill
    to BMW Manufacturing Corp. BMW's project is unique in the fact that most
    other landfill gas projects create energy at the landfill and send
    through wires.  BMW will pipe gas to drive generators.

  * BMW's landfill project is the only project that co-generates electricity
    and hot water for use at an industrial location remote from the
    landfill.

  * Landfills are the largest man-made methane source in the United States.
    Methane is produced as trash decomposes.  When released into the air, it
    is a greenhouse gas and contributes to local smog conditions.

  * By recycling methane gas, BMW is able to improve local air quality by
    lowering regional emissions of greenhouse gases (methane and carbon
    dioxide).

  * BMW's landfill gas-to-energy project will reduce carbon dioxide
    emissions equivalent to driving 105 million miles per year or more than
    4,000 times around the earth.

  * BMW's landfill gas-to-energy project will recover sufficient energy to
    heat the equivalent of 15,000 homes per year.

  * Ameresco designed, built and owns the pipeline, gas processing and gas
    compression facilities, as well as manages the overall operations of the
    project.

  * Waste Management, which owns and operates the Palmetto Landfill, has
    been developing landfill gas-to-energy projects for more than 15 years
    and currently supplies landfill gas to 69 gas-to-energy projects in 21
    states.

  * BMW is a charter member of the EPA's National Environmental Achievement
    Track that recognizes companies for their environmental stewardship and
    performance.  The company is also a member of the South Carolina
    Environmental Excellence Program and is on the Dow Jones Sustainability
    Group Index, which rates environmentally friendly companies.