Landfill Gas

I was happy to learn that Lincoln now has wells for landfill gas collection at Bluff Road Landfill as of last year and has completed phase 1 of the their Landfill Gas Collection and Control project.  I'll explain what is meant by "phase 1" after I explain what landfill gas actually is.  Landfill gas is a mixture of gases produced by microbial decomposition of the organic materials in municipal solid waste.  Municipal solid waste is about 60% organic material and the gas produced is about 50% methane and 50% Carbon dioxide with less than 1% being non-methane organic compounds.  The Clean Air Act of 1996 required "large landfills" to install landfill gas collection wells, but Lincoln has not reached that size yet.  But Mayor Chris Beutler wants to stay ahead of the game and take the environment into consideration saying...


"I have long believed that you can have strong economic development and a cleaner environment, and this project is an excellent example of that reality. It's also an example of acting to clean up our environment without waiting for federal or state mandates."


So, phase 1 completion means that there are now 54 vertical gas extraction wells on about 61 acres of the landfill and that gas is being burned (flared).  This may sound bad but the burning of the methane breaks it down to carbon dioxide and as most of you know, methane has 23 times the global warming potential than carbon dioxide.  It was calculated that flaring this gas takes the equivalent of 30,780 passenger vehicles out of the Lincoln's atmosphere.  Burning it off also reduces odor problems.  Phase one was estimated to be about $2.2 million and most of the money conveniently came from landfill user fees.


The next step for this project would be to use the landfill gas for electricity and could potentially provide 2,250 homes with electricity.  Lincoln could also make money ($300,000 per year) by selling carbon credits on the international market, since Lincoln's air is relatively clean.  I do have some insider news because of a class field trip recently.  Pipes are soon going to  be placed from the landfill to a near by Power Plant called Terry Bundy Generating Station, owned by LES, which already uses natural gas during peak energy use, so a transition to this fuel source would not be that huge.





Check it Out!
http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_6d721ec2-eb8b-11df-b4c0-001cc4c002e0.html
http://lincoln.ne.gov/city/mayor/media/2010/110810.htm
http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/pworks/projects/waste/sldwaste/landfill/


-James Reece