According to its chief administrator, DeKalb County is projected to save millions in fuel savings by the year 2020.

DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis outlined the framework and anticipated benefits of the One Green DeKalb campaign during his state of the county address last week.

“We are working with both the federal government and the private sector to be more sustainable, to be the greenest urban county in America,” Ellis said.

The county’s latest green initiative, a renewable energy facility designed to convert landfill gas into fuel for vehicles, is slated to open this spring, Ellis noted. That operation was made possible by $8 million in federal grant monies and a partnership between the county and ESG, the private-sector firm charged with constructing the facility.

The fuel generated at the site –— the first and only facility of its kind in the Southeast — will initially be used for more than 300 sanitation vehicles and will eventually be sold to external customers.

As a result, said Ellis, the county’s forecasted fuel savings will reach $3 million during the next eight years.

“We are converting trash to gas and gas to cash … when this project is completed, DeKalb County will have the capacity to process more landfill gas than any other county in Georgia,” Ellis said.

“Our use of clean, green and safe technology will generate revenue and enhance our quality of life for decades to come.”

DeKalb has the largest project component of the Clean Cities Atlanta program, with the aforementioned grant — from the U.S. Department of Energy — made possible via President Obama’s federal stimulus program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, according to a report on www.waste-management-world.com.