Methane Emissions from Landfills - Converting Landfill Gas to Energy! Why hasn't this topic come up?

[Up2Late]

Frankly, I'm shocked that this might be the first post here (in the Environment/Energy Forum) about this topic! WTF?:wtf:

I first wondered about this topic after I saw my local closed Landfill which had all these vent pipes sticking out of this really large hill near the local Animal Shelter and asked what they were for.

I do hate the way this EPA article is written, like the way it says things like "...methane emissions from landfills represent a lost opportunity..." but, here's what the U.S. EPA says about this. Discuss. <http://www.epa.gov/lmop/overview.htm>

Btw, check out this new map which shows the State by State numbers of "Operational Projects" and "Candidate Landfills," notice anything? I did. <http://www.epa.gov/lmop/docs/map.pdf>

Looks like only Colorado has a worse ratio of operational to candidates than my home state of Georgia.;(

Methane Emissions from Landfills

Municipal solid waste landfills are the largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for about 25 percent of these emissions in 2004. At the same time, methane emissions from landfills represent a lost opportunity to capture and use a significant energy resource. Landfill gas (LFG) is created as solid waste decomposes in a landfill. This gas consists of about 50 percent methane (CH4), the primary component of natural gas, about 50 percent carbon dioxide (CO2), and a small amount of non-methane organic compounds....

(more at link) <http://www.epa.gov/lmop/overview.htm>

[silverweb]

1. I know of at least one.

One of my brothers works at a landfill methane generating plant. He's been there for about 10 years, I think.

This is not a new concept and apparently there are a number of such plants, but obviously NOT enough.

I don't know why it isn't mandated that every landfill in the country capture and use the methane to generate power.

There was at least one thread on the subject in the past, as I recall, but quite some time ago. :)

[Donnachaidh]

2. if we could tap into the methane emissions coming from the likes of

Saxby Chambliss, Sonny Purdue, Tom Price, Johnny Isaksen, etc - Georgia would have all the power it would need for 1000 years. :rofl:

[Up2Late]

3. NO KIDDING!

Thank You!:applause: :rofl:

[peacebird]

4. in the movie "Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome".... the city ran on methane from pig poo....

In Alexandria Virginia the sewage treatment plant has a huge flame constantly burning from an exhaust pipe (?) to get rid of the methane. I used to see the flame from the beltway on my way to work.

Always thought it a waste.

[Up2Late]

5. Yup, that's another underutilized "alternative energy" source...

...and another topic that should be talked about more here, IMHO.

[peacebird]

6. agree 100%

We need to move the topic of alternative fuels to the forefront. And methane (from landfills and from sewage treatment plants) IS a "renewable resource"... not like we won't have poo or garbage....

Tho I have also heard it said that landfills will be the mines of the future - to get back all the stuff that we wasted (threw away) instead of recycling when the raw materials become scarce

[IDemo]

12. .

Wild-Catting in the Cow Patties

Intrepid Technology and Resources, a home-grown, publicly traded company from Idaho Falls, would like to capitalize on the recent interest in renewable energy by using what they see as a vast, untapped natural resource: cow manure.

Intrepid has plans to transform millions of tons of the stuff through bio-digester conversion into pipeline-quality methane gas to heat Idaho homes beginning next summer. A new 15-year contract with Intermountain Gas Company to accomplish this feat, beginning in 2007, marks the first time a biogas company will sell its product commercially.

If cow patties are the new black gold, southern Idaho may be the equivalent of a Texas oil field.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. It isn't the first time it's been raised

Here's one earlier

We could generate 100 times the amount of energy we use now from garbage...

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. UNH attempts to reduce oil dependency

http://media.www.tnhonline.com/media/storage/paper674/news/2007/11/20/News/Unh-Attempts.To.Reduce.Oil.Dependency-3110945.shtml

UNH attempts to reduce oil dependency

By: Erica Brien
Posted: 11/20/07
According to energy experts on campus, as oil prices continue to skyrocket, the electricity and heating costs at UNH will not be affected, although many other aspects of campus living will.

Oil prices now exceed $100 a barrel as the winter months approach and temperatures continue to plummet. However, according to John Carroll, a professor of natural resources and environmental conservation, the new eco-line that will transport methane gas from the Rochester Landfill to the university's co-generation plant will provide the university heat and electricity for the next 25 years.

"They are estimating that will take care of 85 percent of our heating needs for the next 25 years," said Carroll. "So we are in much better shape than most people, and we will be able to sell electricity in the summer because we don't have the same demand for electricity."

John Aber, a professor of natural resources at UNH, said the eco-line should be complete in a year once the university is done building a processing plant at the landfill. Aber also says once that happens, UNH's heat and electricity will be immune to increases in oil prices.

...

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071119/GJNEWS_01/711190084

Article published Nov 19, 2007

Pipeline to savings

ROCHESTER — Eco-Line, the University of New Hampshire's $45 million project to pipe processed methane gas from Waste Management's landfill to the Durham campus, is about 80 percent complete, a UNH official said recently.

Paul Chamberlin, assistant vice president for energy and campus development, said the 12.7-mile methane gas pipeline and an associated processing plant will begin providing energy by the 2008-2009 winter season.

UNH has said the gas transfer will lower its electrical and heating costs across campus. The university's energy costs have doubled in the last five years.

The processed gas will replace commercial natural gas to power the university's co-generation plant and 85 percent of the university. Methane, a greenhouse gas created from decomposing trash, is one half of what makes up landfill gas.

UNH still has to build the gas processing plant at Waste Management, located on Rochester Neck Road. The plant, itself to be powered by processed methane, is still in the design phase and will be initially performing below maximum capacity, Chamberlin said.

...

The first university in the nation to undertake such a project, UNH plans on tapping into the landfill gas for at least 20 years, Chamberlin said.

Whether the university can depend on the gas in subsequent years will depend on what happens with the landfill, which has a permit to operate through 2020, he said.

Waste Management now sends about 40 percent of its gas to two power plants, but the rest is flared into the sky. The company says all of the 4,500- to 5,000-cubic-feet per minute of flared gas will go to UNH.

...

NNadir: this is your cue to say they're burning garbage.

[XemaSab]

9. The problem with this

is that in many cases, the cost of the capture equipment is way more than the cost of the electricity generated.

It just doesn't pencil out for many municipalities.

[philb]

10. This is very commonly done; lots of them out there

Are there some states where they don't do it?

[Up2Late]

13. Yes, look at the link to the map I gave in the OP...

...Colorado has zero landfills capturing Methane, Georgia has less that 25%.

It's very common in the "Blue States" but not so common in the "Red States."

[momophile]

14. guess I'll be writing to my governor tomorrow to see

why we aren't doing this yet and giving him the link so he can look at the info himself. Colorado's got a pretty green governor now (environmentally) so maybe he'll be into it.

[IDemo]

11. This is far from the first post on the topic

The subject has been posted on many times. Unfortunately, with the sheer volume of items that get posted here, topics tend to wash off the bottom of the page pretty rapidly before they can gather a lot of discussion.

I think I read about six months ago that there are roughly 600 landfill methane power plants in operation in the US, with more on the way. If I can find the link, I'll post it.

[NNadir]

15. This has been discussed to death here. Here is the national output:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/trends/table1.html

It's under "biomass," although some of what decays in landfills is actually petroleum products, as some plastics decompose to give light gases.

[Up2Late]

16. Sorry, I didn't search the archives, but in the active threads search, I only found one (1) other...

...post on this subject, that hardly qualifies as "...discussed to death..." in my opinion. Search the Keywords: Methane Landfills -- if you want to see what I'm talking about.

Also, a question about your comment "...some of what decays in landfills is actually petroleum products..."? Are you talking about the plastic bags the manufacturers claim are "Photo-degradable"? Because if those are truly Photo-degradable, they would need sunlight (or at least some light) to degrade, which doesn't happen when they are buried in a landfill.

So, I guess my question is, what exactly are you talking about when you say, "...some of what decays in landfills is actually petroleum products, as some plastics decompose to give light gases..."?:shrug: