SUNAGAWA, Hokkaido (Kyodo) A garbage-processing center here gets the electricity it needs to operate all year round from kitchen waste.
The heat produced at Clean Plaza Kurukuru can also melt the snow on the city's streets during winter.
The smell of methane gas is strong enough to make visitors who approach the center's two tanks cover their noses. A large quantity of bacteria in the tanks helps to decompose the garbage and generate high-temperature methane gas, which is then used to produce electricity.