Nov. 23--All that garbage you've been sending to the landfill could soon help light your house or office.

It may sound strange, but trash at the landfill is actually creating a gas that can be converted into "green power," and Ada County wants to put that gas to good use.

How can garbage create electricity?

As trash in the landfill decomposes, it emits carbon dioxide and methane gases. The methane is similar to natural gas, and it can be collected and used to run generators that create electricity, said Selena O'Neal, an energy specialist for Ada County.

Last year, the county built a collection system at the landfill to gather the excess methane gas and burn it off. But the county also decided to see whether it could sell the the gas for generating power that could be sold to Idaho Power Co.

G2 Energy LLC, a Georgia company that specializes in landfill gas projects, bid on the project and is now working with Idaho Power and state regulators to finalize a contract.

"We are really happy that we found a company to come in and work with us on this," O'Neal said.

O'Neal could not estimate how much the county might earn from selling the gas, but she said the project will benefit the environment.

Converting that amount of methane to electricity is equal to planting about 36,000 acres of forest or removing from the air emissions given off by about 25,000 cars, O'Neal said.

The Ada County landfill project, which should be in operation by March, will generate an average 3.2 megawatt hours of electricity a month. That's enough to power 2,400 homes, O'Neal said.

The Ada County project will join nearly 400 similar landfill gas programs in the nation, according to the EPA.