Landfill Gas Use
The gases produced within the landfill can be collected and flared off or used to produce heat or electricity. The City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota installed a landfill gas collection system which collects, cools, dries, and compresses the gas into an 11-mile pipeline. The gas is then used to power an ethanol plant operated by POET Biorefining.
The number of landfill gas projects, which convert the methane gas that is emitted from decomposing garbage into power, went from 399 in 2005, to 594 in 2012 according to the Environmental Protection Agency. These projects are popular because they control energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These projects collect the methane gas, which is released with twenty times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, and treat it, so it can be used for electricity or upgraded to pipeline-grade gas. These projects power homes, buildings, and vehicles.
Waste Management uses landfill gas as an energy source. Their landfill gas-to-energy projects create enough energy to power four hundred thousand homes every day. This energy production offsets almost two million tons of coal per year. These projects also reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Waste Management currently has 110 landfill gas-to-energy facilities.This is a good substitute of natural gas and run the vehicles more efficiently.
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