The methane gas produced by rotting trash smells awful and can even blow up, but Anchorage's Solid Waste Services has a plan to put that gas to work.

SWS plans to take the gas emitted at the Anchorage Regional Landfill and use it as energy. Estimates say the landfill's methane could produce about 3 megawatts of power, or enough to power 2,500 local homes. Right now the methane gas is burned off by flares.

SWS director Mark Madden announced the plan Wednesday at Mayor Dan Sullivan's weekly press briefing. He said SWS has been working on this idea for five or six years, but that it's now at the point at which it's economically viable.

The municipal purchasing department recently put out a request for proposals to look for a project developer. Bids are due in May, and the city expects the plant to be up and running in late 2011 or early 2012.

Madden said he expects the project to cost about $7.5 million. He also said there are about 400 like it around the country, with about 70 percent producing electricity and others powering industry. In some parts of the Lower 48, property near landfills has gotten more expensive because of its proximity to cheap power, Madden said.

Contact Joshua Saul at jsaul(at)alaskadispatch.com.