ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. -- County Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to continue on with a plan that -- if successful -- would trap methane gas at the Rockingham County landfill and convert it into energy.

“We know that when waste decomposes it generates landfill gas and about 50 percent of that gas is methane, which is a primary component of natural gas," said Jack Brinkley, a program manager for Solid Waste.

The county has been working on this project with engineers from Appalachian State University since the beginning of this year. Their calculations show two closed sites at the landfill could generate enough methane gas to be trapped and converted.

"We're going to have collection wells out in the landfill where we're actually going to drill holes. Then we're going to pipe gas out of the landfill and we can process this methane into electricity and connect it basically into a Duke Energy type of generator transformer," said Mark Wells, an official with the Rockingham County Business and Technology Center.

It's a process for Rockingham County that will generate green all while going green because when untapped, methane can do more harm than good.

"When methane escapes into the atmosphere, that's a greenhouse gas that destroys our atmosphere, so we have not only economic prosperity that we're going after but we're trying to be a green county as well," added Wells.

Rockingham County officials should know if there is enough methane gas in the closed landfills for the project to continue by late spring. If given the go ahead, things could be up and running by the end of next year.

Officials say phase two of the project will focus on collecting the methane energy and using it to the benefit of local entrepreneurs in the county like potters, wood workers and possibly industrial workers.