Terminal Island project up for innovation award

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A renewable energy project on Terminal Island has qualified the city of Los Angeles as one of 50 semi-finalists for the Innovations in American Government Award issued annually by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

City officials launched the Terminal Island Renewable Energy demonstration project two years ago, injecting ‘biosolids,’ a spongy material that is the sterilized byproduct of sewage treatment, into depleted oil and gas formations more than a mile underground.

With pressure and high temperatures in those underground pockets, the material produces methane gas, which is captured and used to power fuel cells. The process also traps the carbon dioxide that would ordinarily be released into the air. City officials say that keeps 82,000 tons of carbon dioxide out of the air over five years – equivalent to taking 16,000 cars off Los Angeles streets over that time.

By 2010, city officials have said, the project should be producing enough electricity to power as many as 3,000 homes every day. The project also cut down on more than 2,000 trucking trips to Kern County, where the material was used as fertilizer for non-food crops, thus saving the city $1.6 million annually.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement today that the project was setting “the green standard for innovation, clean energy and renewable power nationwide.”

Los Angeles competed against about 600 applicants for the award, and several other California cities, as well as the state, also qualified for the semi-final round. California qualified for its Global Warming Solutions Act to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. Another contender is the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which allows customers to purchase -- in $3 and $6 per month packages -- renewable energy generated using wind, biomass and captured methane. The winners will be announced in September.

-- Maeve Reston