Project Background

The CommunityTIES Project is a landfill gas development initiative working with counties in North Carolina to facilitate development of landfill gas-to-energy projects that are community-based with a primary focus on generating economic development outcomes. The statewide project is managed by the Appalachian State University Energy Center with funding from the GoldenLEAF foundation, the N.C. State Energy Office and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

History

The CommunityTIES Project is a program developed by the Appalachian State Energy Center to facilitate local economic development by turning Trash Into Energy Savings. The Project provides assistance to communities seeking to develop their local landfill as a secure, renewable, and low-cost source of energy that can be leveraged into new jobs and a more competitive local economy.

Currently in its third year, the Project has been funded by the GoldenLEAF Foundation and the N.C. State Energy Office since its inception, and as of this year, has also received funding from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. With total funding of about $265,000 through 2008, the Project has assisted its partner communities in submitting over $2.5 million in project development funding requests, of which nearly $800,000 was awarded.

Strategy

Modeled on the nationally acclaimed, award-winning EnergyXchange Project located at the Yancey-Mitchell County Landfill in Burnsville, N.C., the CommunityTIES Project partners with counties across the state to develop their local landfill as an energy resource for use in driving economic growth. This successful model is not only focused on developing uses of the landfill’s energy that are significant to the local economy, but also, and perhaps most importantly, is that CommunityTIES supports developing the capability within the local community to implement its own LFG project.

Toward this end, the CommunityTIES Project performs a facilitatory role in the establishment and education of a local taskforce. For these local groups, CommunityTIES provides information about the quantity, value, and potential uses of their landfill’s energy. Support and assistance is provided to local initiatives as they grow from the earliest development stage of awareness through contract negotiations, funding, and beyond.

Energy Center

The Energy Center at Appalachian State University was established in 2001 to conduct energy research and applied program activities in a multi-disciplinary environment.

Organization

The Center, working through faculty, staff and students, has programs in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy technology, biofuels, policy analysis, forecasting, and economic development. The Center operates with state appropriations and grant funds and is being administratively relocated to the newly developed Research Institute for Environment, Energy, and Economics at ASU.

Mission

The Energy Center is committed to research, development, policy analysis and demonstrations in all areas of energy, with a stated mission to facilitate the work of faculty and students engaged in teaching, research and outreach activities associated with energy technologies, conservation and policy.

University

Appalachian State University has long been a home for renewable energy, sustainable development and an environmentally aware campus community. Appalachian State is home to one of the nation's first degree programs in renewable energy technology, and remains one of a handful of schools in the world that offers a Masters-level degree in renewable energy technology. The University also hosts a number of other degree programs with related curricula including choices in building science, political science, economics, and other areas.