SC Johnson Utilizes Cogeneration to Reduce Greenhouse Gases
SC Johnson doesn’t rely on the local utility company to supply their energy needs at their Racine, Wisconsin plant, they depend on the local land fill! The manufacturing plant, called Waxdale, is SC Johnson’s largest plant world wide and has been powered through a process call cogeneration since 2005.
The 2.2 million square foot facility operates off of two turbines that reduce greenhouse gases by 52,000 tons each year, a total that is equivalent to removing 5,200 cars off the nations highways! And, the environment isn’t the only thing benefiting, the company save millions of dollars annually on energy costs.
The two green energy turbines produce the plants energy from methane gas that naturally builds up over time from decaying organic matter. The methane is transported to a cogeneration plant through pipes and then directed through the turbines to create electricity!
The Wisconsin plant isn’t the only plant that makes use of green energy. SC Johnson’s Bay City, Michigan plant receives 46 per cent of it’s energy from giant windmills that are located at the Harvest Wind Farm. Through using wind energy, the company reduces carbon dioxide emissions by another 29,500 tons, comparable to 3,000 cars!
Cogeneration isn’t a new method of producing energy, in fact the very first commercial power plant in the U.S. was a cogeneration plant that Thomas Edison designed and built in 1882! Methane isn’t the only source of power used for cogeneration, wood, coal, natural gas, propane and oil are just some of the commonly used fuels.