City leaders say there's an interest in locally grown, fresh organic produce. The city has space - the buffer area around its landfill, the resources and now the idea to build a greenhouse.
It's now looking for takers, private companies or institutions that would lease the land and fund this project.
After garbage ends up at the city's municipal landfill, the trash decomposes and creates methane gas, which is captured by two engine generators creating approximately 3MW of electricity, powering 2,1000.
"That waste heat has a value," said Errin Kemper, director of environmental services for the City of Springfield.
So the city and CU want to put that heat to good use.
The engine generators produce 14 million BTUs a day, which can heat a greenhouse the size of nearly five acres. To put that into perspective that would be approximate, three soccer fields.