Producing electricity from landfill gas

Organic compounds degradation in the landfill is mostly in anaerobic condition and causing leachate and biogas formation. The major reaction in the landfill, which lead to biogas (LFG) production, takes place in three stages. A case study is presented, in which the potential for generating electrical energy from LFG, while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, was studied. The potential electricity production and GHG emission reduction was investigated for the River Birch Landfill in Louisiana by applying the RETScreen software. Simulation showed that the River Birch Landfill has a potential for viable LFG energy projects. Between 2000 until ≈ 2030, gas production rate has an increasing trend and after that it will decrease due to degrading of organic matter in the waste. A large difference between the amounts of gas produced vs. the amount required for the engine size studied was observed. To fully utilize the available LFG, one could select a higher capacity engine or add additional engines and produce much more electricity. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AWMA's 107th Annual Conference & Exhibition (Long Beach, CA 6/24-27/2014).