Landfill Gas
 Overview
Folks living next to a landfill may not appreciate it, but
many of those emanating gases are actually an escaping energy
source. Decomposing organic materials produce methane (the
principal component in natural gas), carbon dioxide, nitrogen,
and trace gases. The methane that escapes from landfills
is significant greenhouse gas (GHG) contributor, with estimates
ranging as high as 1.5% of global GHG emissions.
Landfill gas energy facilities capture the methane, and
use it to produce electricity by combustion, to run a fuel
cell or gas turbine on it, to run a boiler to make heat,
to convert to methyl alcohol for fuel, or to cleanse prior
to adding to the natural gas supply.
Project viability varies greatly depending on the volume
of methane captured, the facility costs, what the electricity
can be sold for, and whether subsidies exist. In Canada,
only 41 landfills capture their methane, resulting in a reduction
of more than 7 MT/year of CO2 equivalent. In the US, only
340 of the 6,000 landfills practice recovery.
Landfill Gas Global Highlights – coming soon
What’s Happening in B.C.? – coming
soon
What Does it Cost? – coming soon
Environmental Matters – coming
soon
Technical Matters – coming soon
Social, Economic and Political
Matters – coming soon
Can I Do at Home? – coming soon
Links
Credits
Written by Mike Boyd for the BC Sustainable Energy Association.
Text updated March 24, 2004
Links updated September 7, 2007
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