COFFEE COUNTY, Ala. (WDHN) — The Coffee County Landfill will be one of the first in Alabama to sell its methane gas as a reusable energy source.

Methane gas is a natural by-product in the landfill process. At the Coffee County Landfill, and most landfills, the gas has been burned off.

But technology now allows it to be harnessed and used as a fuel source for vehicles and other machinery. On Monday, the county commission passed a measure that will sell methane to a Florida-based recycling company.

This could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue for Coffee County in coming years.

“One it’s taking the gas that’s created and putting it to beneficial use,” Coffee Co. Administrator Rod Morgan. “It will ultimately be used as fuel rather than just flared off. It also creates revenue in the gas and revenue to the county.”

Morgan says the federal E.P.A. is moving toward having landfills capture methane and other gases instead of creating environmental issues by burning them in the atmosphere.