Sep. 24--There is a lot of environmentally-friendly activity going on in Haywood County right now, and that is good.

Construction began in August on the county's first solar field. The field is located in Canton on an old landfill owned by Evergreen Packaging. Currently, 15 solar units have been installed and will go online in the next couple of weeks. The remaining 3 acres of the landfill will soon fill up with more solar units and will eventually provide 550 kilowatts of clean electricity to Progress Energy. FLS Energy, the company constructing the field, expects the entire project to be completed by the end of February.

This will reduce the company's dependence on coal to create electricity for its customers and also helps fulfill a state mandate requiring electric companies to have 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio to come from environmentally-friendly energy sources such as solar or wind by 2012.

Another avenue for clean energy that is being explored is methane recovery at the county's current landfill at White Oak. The county commissioners recently approved contracts for the design and permitting of phases 1 and 2 of a landfill gas collection system. Methane gas, which is a by-product of decomposing garbage, is 22 times more potent than carbon dioxide and can be used to generate electricity when captured and fired.

Yet another green project taking place in the county is at Haywood Community College. Already dedicated to green and sustainable operations, the college is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Service to construct a research house on campus.

The house will incorporate sustainable building practices and green resources, such as native underutilized woods, double-paned windows, solar hot water, structured insulated roof panels, low-flow toilets, high-efficiency lighting and a design that minimizes the impact on the sloping landscape. It will be a model to local builders and homeowners on environmentally friendly building practices.

The Forest Products Service will use the house for research on wood products, specifically about moisture management in a warm-humid climate on window installation methods.

All of these projects benefit the environment and residents of Haywood County. Solar energy and methane recovery help improve air quality and sustainable, green building keeps a minimum impact on our mountains and valleys during new home construction.

Some of these projects have already or will create new jobs in an economy that is seen by many as the economy of the future in our country.

We should all support and embrace these projects and others that will positively impact our beautiful mountains of Haywood County.

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