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    Landfill Gas Power Generation

Each person in the United States generates about 4.5 pounds of waste per day, or almost 1 ton per year most of which is disposed in municipal solid waste landfills. Landfill gas is generated by the anaerobic decomposition of organic refuse deposited in landfills. Landfill gas consists primarily of methane and carbon dioxide. The EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program reports that Pennsylvania has 20 current landfill gas to energy projects generating 30.3 million cubic feet per day of methane. Additionally there are 18 candidate landfills identified with an estimated total methane generation of 14.3 million cubic feet per day.

EPA has estimated that 1 million tons of waste typically generates 300 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of landfill gas. This amount of gas could generate 7 million kilowatt hours per year which is enough energy to power 700 homes for a year. Utilizing 300 cfm/year of landfill gas has the same greenhouse gas reduction as removing 6,100 cars from the road for one year or planting 8,300 acres of trees.

Click here for listing of Pennsylvania landfill-gas-to-energy sites.

Landfill Gas Power Generation Links

Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP). LMOP is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency voluntary assistance and partnership program that helps facilitate and promote the use of landfill gas as a renewable energy source.

Growth of the Landfill Gas Industry. 1996 Energy Information Administration Annual Review (Chapter 10: Overview of the Landfill Gas Industry).