LANDFILL GAS TO ENERGY

 

Through the natural bacterial decomposition of solid waste and organic materials, large municipal landfills produce gasses comprised of roughly 60 percent methane and 40 percent carbon dioxide (or "CO2"). Methane is a significant and harmful greenhouse gas, trapping 21 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2. NEC’s landfill gas-to-energy plants are designed to utilize this methane-rich gas from a landfill which would otherwise be released to the atmosphere or wasted by flaring. This dramatically reduces the amount of harmful methane released into the atmosphere. LFG is captured through a piping system embedded in the landfill and transported to the plant. A typical NEC landfill gas-to-energy project produces 25 to 50+ megawatts of electric power capacity operating 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, to provide a high availability power source.

 

NEC’s design maximizes the overall plant efficiency for an excellent heat rate (expressed as the number of BTUs of heat required to produce a kilowatt-hour of energy). Clean utilization of the landfill gas stream results in very low discharge, well below emission standards.

 

Environmental Benefits

 

Methane is a highly potent agent of global climate change, having pound-per-pound approximately 21 times the negative impact as a greenhouse gas when compared to CO2. Left unaddressed, this methane is released to the atmosphere. NEC’s landfill gas-to-energy projects prevent this negative affect by utilizing up to 98% of the landfill gas as an energy source.

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Utilization of landfill gas produces CO2; however, the effect upon climate change is offset many times over by the reduction of far more harmful methane emissions. Landfill gas-to-energy generation offers major air quality benefits where landfills already exist, often in urban and residential areas.

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Methane and landfill gas are also highly malodorous. NEC projects significantly eliminate these offensive odors which can, at times, migrate miles into surrounding neighborhoods and commercial areas, creating a noxious and hazardous environment for citizens.