You can opt out anytime. Landfills across the U. In fact, the average American throws away over 1, pounds of waste a year. Municipal solid waste MSW is the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U. MSW landfills released an estimated The environmental disaster can be avoided by using LFG as a source of energy to create heat or electricity. Over landfills in the U. An LFG energy project can capture 60 to 90 percent of the methane emitted from a landfill.
Generating electricity from LFG makes up about two-thirds of the operational projects in the U. When it comes to converting landfill gas to electricity, the combustion engine is one of the major components to the process. Otherwise known as a biogas generator, a combustion ene does all the hard work when it comes to converting landfill gas to electricity.
Australian carbon credit units, or ACCUs, are credits that can be earned through various projects approved under the Emissions Reduction Fund. In the case of landfill gas, ACCUs are earned for the levels of methane that is collected and then burnt off through different devices. For the creation of electricity, landfill gas can be burnt off through a combustion engine as opposed to a flare or other combustion device and ACCUs can still be earned.
If you are responsible for a landfill that is already capturing landfill gas produced to be burnt off for ACCUs and are considering the change to landfill gas electricity generation, here are a few things to consider :. Although there are very few disadvantages to consider, the big one is the quality of landfill gas.
As a result, reducing methane emissions from MSW landfills is one of the best ways to achieve a near-term beneficial impact in mitigating global climate change. In addition, methane contributes to background tropospheric ozone levels as an ozone precursor.
Finally, many of the technologies and practices that reduce methane emissions also reduce associated emissions of volatile organic compounds VOCs , odors and other local air pollutants. Given that all landfills generate methane, it makes sense to use the gas for the beneficial purpose of energy generation rather than emitting it to the atmosphere.
It is estimated that an LFG energy project will capture roughly 60 to 90 percent of the methane emitted from the landfill, depending on system design and effectiveness. The captured methane is destroyed converted to water and the much less potent CO 2 when the gas is burned to produce electricity. CO 2 emissions from MSW landfills are not considered to contribute to global climate change because the carbon was contained in recently living biomass.
The same CO 2 would be emitted as a result of the natural decomposition of the organic waste materials outside the landfill environment. Producing energy from LFG offsets the use of non-renewable resources, such as coal, oil or natural gas, to produce the same amount of energy.
This can avoid emissions of CO 2 ; criteria pollutants such as sulfur dioxide a major contributor to acid rain , particulate matter a respiratory health concern and nitrogen oxides NO X ; and trace hazardous air pollutants from power plants and other fossil fuel users.
Like all combustion devices, LFG electricity generation devices emit some NO X , which can contribute to local ozone and smog formation. Overall, however, LFG electricity generation projects significantly improve the environment because of the significant methane emission reductions, hazardous air pollutant reductions and avoidance of the use of non-renewable resources such as coal and oil that are more polluting than LFG.
Burning LFG to produce electricity destroys most of the non-methane organic compounds including hazardous air pollutants and VOCs that are present at low concentrations in uncontrolled LFG, which reduces possible health risks from these compounds.
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