Dow Says Lomax Technology Surpassed Expectations

Dalton, GA, Nov. 6, 2008--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Dow Chemical Co. and the City of Dalton partnered in a renewable energy project that has far exceeded expectations in its first quarter of operation, Dow said.

The project takes gas from a Dalton landfill and uses it to fuel Dow's latex carpet backing plant.

Over its first three months in operation, the latex carpet backing plant has already surpassed initial projections, according to Todd Crook, global marketing manager, Dow Flooring.

Several carpet manufacturers have agreed to use latex carpet backing produced with the fuel from Dow's Lomax technology. which uses renewable energy (currently landfill gas) to manufacture latex carpet backings, which reduces greenhouse
gas emissions and assists customers in developing high performance products with sustainable attributes.

Dow partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency's Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) in early 2008 and has gained a tremendous amount of knowledge through this partnership. As a result, Dow is in the evaluation phase of two to three other similar projects in the United States.

"While most Americans think of landfills as a final resting place for their garbage, they are actually a source of valuable, clean energy," said Victoria Ludwig, manager of the Landfill Methane Outreach Program. "Dow's landfill gas capture program is one of many examples where American businesses are rethinking how they power their operations."

LMOP is a voluntary assistance and partnership program that promotes the use of methane in landfill gas as an energy source.

"In the manufacturing of our latexes for carpet backing, our target is to replace nearly all the fossil fuel required to manufacture latex with methane gas that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere."

More than 85 percent of carpet manufactured today uses latex as a backing material to hold the carpet fibers in place. Lomax Technology will use approximately 200 billion Btu annually of methane gas, which is equivalent to the amount of energy required to heat 2,100 U.S. homes annually.