Nestled in the Black Mountains of Western North Carolina, Yancey and Mitchell are two of the state’s most rural counties. The area is rich in cultural, natural, and historic assets including the legendary Penland School of Craft, Mayland Community College and Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

Residents of Yancey and Mitchell counties are concerned about conservation and economic prosperity. When the landfill that served the two counties was closed in 1994, extensive research and a lot of brainstorming generated a host of ideas for reuse. One board member said, “no idea was too ridiculous . . . we could have branched out a thousand different ways.” This flexibility allowed local leaders to create and customize an appropriate energy reuse for the landfill. As home to some of America’s most creative artists and beautiful native plants, the Yancey-Mitchell landfill seemed the perfect place for developing craft incubator studios and greenhouses to cultivate endangered flora while utilizing the landfill gas.

What is landfill gas?

As the municipal solid waste decomposes beneath the surface of the Yancey-Mitchell landfill cap, landfill gas is created. Landfill gas consists of about 50% methane, the primary component of natural gas, and 50% carbon dioxide, with a small amount of other compounds. Ordinarily, without a collection system, the landfill gas moves upward and finds places to escape into the air. At EnergyXchange the landfill gas is captured and used as an energy source. This helps reduce local smog and global climate change.

The idea for EnergyXchange was created through the partnership of three organizations- Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development Council (BRRC&D), HandMade in America (HandMade), and Mayland Community College (MCC) – recognized for their strong track record for education, community development and environmental protection in Western North Carolina. The partners strategically worked to get the EnergyXchange idea and campus going from 1996 until 2000.

BRRC&D began investigating potential uses of the landfill gas in 1996. County commissioners sponsored the project and asked BRRC&D to conduct research, investigating other locations were landfill gas was used successfully. Their research led to a new EPA program called the Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP).

In 1997, MCC began planning the Project Branch Out initiative that would encompass the horticultural endeavors at EnergyXchange. Additionally, EPA-LMOP agreed to conduct a feasibility study on the quality and quantity of methane in the gas being produced by the landfill. Their study determined that the site was commercially viable for energy development.

In 1998, due to the large volume of gas revealed in the study, HandMade joined the partnership to implement the craft business incubators involving a clay studio and a glass studio. That same year, the EPA awarded a $50,000 grant to hire a project manager, and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina awarded $10,000 for greenhouse construction. Many significant grants were awarded after 1998 for the construction of the gas collection system, and construction of the campus. On Earth Day 1999 the landfill gas system was activated. By 2001, the campus was complete and the first six artists had begun their residencies.

EnergyXchange has become one of the nation’s model energy recovery projects and is used internationally as an example of successful small landfill gas projects. For example, the EPA Methane to Markets Program included the EnergyXchange project in a 2008 landfill gas workshop in Poland. Methane gas from the decomposing trash powers ovens for glass blowers, a pottery kiln, and supplies radiant heat for the studios and greenhouse. It is estimated to save $1 million in energy costs over the landfill’s 20-year reuse cycle. By burning the methane it combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. Methane is a ‘greenhouse gas’ that is 21 times more effective at holding heat than carbon dioxide. According to the EPA’s feasibility study, the environmental impact of the Yancey-Mitchell County landfill Reuse Project is equivalent to planting 14,000 acres of trees or taking 21,000 cars off the road in North Carolina each year.

The nonprofit corporation, EnergyXchange, was formed September 13, 1999 and received its tax exempt status in 2000. The EnergyXchange complex includes four greenhouses, three cold frames, a retail craft gallery, visitor center, clay studio and glass studio. EnergyXchange is run by a 15-member Board of Directors, comprised of public officials, business and civic leaders, and representatives of the area. The mission of EnergyXchange is to apply the use of renewable resources and practices for educational opportunities and economic development in the fields of art and horticulture. The “three Es” of EnergyXchange’s local impact are: Environment, Education, and Economics. The programs that facilitate this local impact are the craft business incubator program, project branch out, and the landfill gas system itself. Many school groups, civic organizations, governmental agencies, and individuals interested in alternate energy come to EnergyXchange for a guided tour. These tours provide information on landfill gas, wind energy, and solar energy, as well as, horticulture and aquaculture.

The craft incubator program supports entrepreneurs in starting, managing and operating new businesses in the crafts of glass blowing and pottery. Craft residencies are available to potters and glass blowers who are competitively selected by media-specific juries for the opportunity to work in group studios on the site at a nominal cost. Participants in the program may stay as long as three years and receive training in business practices from MCC Small Business Center. The artists while at EnergyXchange perfect their craft, develop their businesses, and live in our community. The program supports 2 glass artists and 4 clay artists. The clay kiln and glass furnaces are fired with landfill gas at no additional cost to the residents. In the creation of their pieces of art, the EnergyXchange artists are also helping the environment and the local economy.

Project Branch Out began with the strategy to nurture small agricultural activities in rural western North Carolina. The Appalachian Mountains offer an unequaled array of native ornamentals. Project Branch Out helps diversify local crops and propagates endangered species. While the area has a rich agricultural history found in burley tobacco, Christmas trees, woody and herbaceous ornamentals, beef cattle and vegetable production, these two counties have experienced declining availability of indigenous plants – such as rhododendron and native azaleas – that are a cash crop for local nurseries and export. At EnergyXchange we grow several varieties of evergreen rhododendrons and deciduous azaleas from seeds that have been collected locally, and sell them in containers to local growers. The best selling and best known native plant grown at EnergyXchange is the Flame Azalea. The quilt block at EnergyXchange is titled “Flower of the Woods” and is meant to depict the range of colors possible in the flower of the Flame.