Last updated on August 16th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Tropicana Manufacturing Co. is holding talks with Florida’s Manatee County in a pitch to open a renewable energy plant. If approved, the $5 million project would burn bio-material to create methane gas, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports.
The Public Service Commission has approved the proposal for Tropicana to connect a 1.6 megawatt generating facility at its Fort Pierce plant with Florida Power & Light Co., according to the Bradenton Herald.
The unique project calls for Tropicana to burn methane gas produced from decomposing waste in a landfill to power its Fort Pierce processing facility. Tropicana officials said the savings in carbon emissions would be the equivalent of removing 2,000 cars from the road annually.
The energy generator will be Tropicana’s second. The Herald says the company currently has a natural gas facility operating in Bradenton, which is capable of producing 49 megawatts of power.
Tropicana is one of Manatee’s largest employers with 1,200 workers. The PepsiCo Inc. subsidiary processes 41 million boxes a fruit each year, the Herald adds.
