Very clever idea -- they are building an arts center for glass, ceramic and metal work near a landfill and using the methane gas captured from the landfill as fuel.
Check out the Ohio Valley Creative Energy Project:
Ohio Valley Creative Energy has over 30 member artists from all over the region and is supported by the Clark County, Indiana Government, The EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), The Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, Stewardship Associates, Hoosier Energy, and the Clark County Rural Electric Membership Co-operative (REMC). The involvement of all of these organizations is critical for the successful implementation of this project.
OVCE, Hoosier Energy, and Clark County REMC have united to develop the first commercial-community Landfill-to-Gas (LFG) project in the U.S. Hoosier Energy will use a majority of the landfill's gas to power an electricity generation station that will feed into the Clark County REMC's power grid, providing 1,000's of Southern Indiana homes with "green" power. The excess gas, or flared gas will be donated by these companies to power the OVCE arts campus. This equals to be less than 10% of the total gas flow collected at the landfill.
Glass, Metal, and Clay studios all require an abundance of heat and energy to operate. Because of this, energy prices are reflected in studio costs for artists working in these heat intensive materials. Glass artists pay between $30-50/ an hour for studio time, so working artists can easily spend $5,000 a month just doing their job. This dilemma stifles artists creativity, forcing them to "make objects that sell" rather than art.
At the OVCE Arts Center artists will be able to explore their creativity through experimentation and collaboration, because we will be able to offer them a low cost studio to work from. Studio costs will vary, ranging from $100-300/ per month depending on the studio of choice. In addition to providing a studio space, artists are expected to engage themselves in professional development through OVCE's business incubator program. The goal of OVCE is to produce self-sustainable artists by the end of their 3 year term, leaving their experience with the necessary tools to succeed.
A perfect use of a perfect resource...
