Converting Waste to Green Energy Members of the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association are in the forefront of landfill operators building a new future with green energy--converting waste into usable energy. Some two dozen landfills across Pennsylvania are operating gas-to-energy projects, creating tangible environmental and economic benefits for the people of Pennsylvania. More projects are on the way. As waste in a landfill decomposes, it produces methane and other gases. Today's state-of-the-art landfill gas technology allows 60 to 90 percent of landfill gas to be collected for use as green energy. Currently, collected landfill gas is being used to generate electricity at a dozen and a half Pennsylvania landfills (including several that also process gas for direct use as fuel).

• Together, these landfills collect and use landfill gas to generate more than 100 megawatts of electricity--enough to power more than 63,500 homes. That's the equivalent of a small city!

• The electricity generated from landfill gas in Pennsylvania offsets the consumption of an estimated 1.84 million tons of coal per year.

• The use of landfill gas to make electricity averts the emission of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels into the atmosphere equivalent to removing the emissions of nearly 100,000 vehicles annually.

The gas from more than half a dozen other landfills in Pennsylvania is being utilized as commercial or industrial fuel. (For example, a plant in Schuylkill County uses landfill gas to make steam, which in turn is used to convert raw potatoes into dehydrated flakes.)

• The direct use of landfill gas for commercial and industrial purposes in Pennsylvania saves an estimated 3.7 million barrels of oil per year.

• The heat generated is the equivalent amount it would take to warm 43,000 homes per year.

• The use of landfill gas a direct fuel averts the emission of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels into the atmosphere equivalent to removing the emissions of more than 32,000 vehicles annually.

What's more, there are more than a dozen additional gas-to-energy projects pending at landfills in Pennsylvania, with others considered as candidates for gas-to-energy projects in the future.

Landfill gas-to-energy produces numerous beneficial environmental effects:

• Direct reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

• Indirect reduction of air pollution by offsetting the use of non-renewable resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas

• Reduction of landfill odors

Landfill gas-to-energy also produces positive economic benefits:

• Jobs and purchases stemming from the design, construction, and operation of energy recovery systems

• Cost savings--sometimes in the millions of dollars--for businesses and utilities that use landfill gas as a replacement for more expensive fossil fuels

Look at all operational, planned, and potential landfill gas projects in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's national databases: http://www.epa.gov/landfill/proj/index.htm#1

The EPA in 2006 cited the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as "State Partner of the Year" in its Landfill Methane Outreach Program.

Pennsylvania Landfill Wins EPA Award for Gas to Energy

To the Point
Landfill gas-to-energy projects can be seen as a form of recycling. The energy in waste is being transformed into a usable, productive resource.