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Lancaster County Resource Recovery

Waste power plant in Pennsylvania, United States of America. Approximate location 40.0711, -76.6436.

WastePennsylvaniaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Lancaster County Resource Recovery is a 36 MW waste power plant in Pennsylvania, United States of America. It is operated by Covanta Lancaster Inc. Based on reported annual generation of 196 GWh, it can supply roughly 56,114 homes. It ranks #3130 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1991, it is around 35 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 299,400 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 69,790 cars driven for a year. In context, the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

36MW installed capacity
196GWh reported / yr
56,114homes powered
299,400t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
1991commissioned (~35 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0050859.

299,400 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

69,790passenger cars driven for a year
39,045homes' yearly energy use
4,990,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Reported generation trend

2013: 217 GWh20132014: 215 GWh20142015: 222 GWh20152016: 226 GWh20162017: 201 GWh20172018: 197 GWh20182019: 196 GWh2019226 GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Covanta Lancaster Inc.

Local climate & thermal context

This waste plant recovers energy by combusting municipal or industrial waste. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 40.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

11.2°Cannual mean temp
2,863heating degree-days (base 18°C)
405cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
207 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -2 °CJF: 0 °CFM: 5 °CMA: 10 °CAM: 16 °CMJ: 21 °CJJ: 23 °CJA: 22 °CAS: 19 °CSO: 12 °CON: 7 °CND: 1 °CD23 °C

Heating degree-days here run 16% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 59/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #89 largest waste power plant of 541 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 541 waste power plants in this dataset, together about 9,768 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 40.0711, -76.6436 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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