1 / 32

From Refuse to Resource

This document explores the imperative role of landfill gas-to-energy projects in mitigating atmospheric methane levels. With methane levels increasing by 148% due to human activities, innovative solutions like landfill methane capture are crucial. The document highlights the chemistry of methane, its global sources, and the importance of recovery systems in preventing greenhouse gas emissions. By utilizing landfill gas, projects can significantly contribute to energy production—enough to power over 1.6 million homes. This shift not only helps combat climate change but also recycles waste into valuable resources.

kerryn
Download Presentation

From Refuse to Resource

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. From Refuse to Resource Recapturing Methane In Landfill Gas-to-Energy Projects Anne Regan Atmospheric Chemistry

  2. Atmospheric Methane • In the last 650,000 years… • 400 ppb (Glacial) ↔ 770 ppb (Interglacial) • In the last 250 years… • Human activities have raised methane levels 148% to 1,774 ppb

  3. Radiative Efficiencies and Global Warming Potentials of Carbon Dioxide and Methane Source: Forster, P., et al. Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing; Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge UniversityPress: Cambridge, UK, 2007.

  4. Global Sources of Methane • Methanogenic bacteria in wet, oxygen-deficient environments release ~ 80% 2{CH2O} + 2H2O  2CO2 + 8H+ + 8e- CO2 + 8H+ + 8e- CH4 + 2H2O NET: 2{CH2O}  CO2 + CH4 • Natural gas leakages, coal mining, and other fossil fuel sources release ~ 20%

  5. Global Sources of Methane Source: Wuebbles, D.; Hayhoe, K. Atmospheric methane and global change. Earth-Science Reviews. [Online] 2002, 57, 177-210.

  6. Atmospheric Methane (2005) Source: http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de/sciamachy/NIR_NADIR_WFM_DOAS/CH4CO2v1_figs/xch4_sci_V1_2005.jpg

  7. Methane Sinks • ~ 5% taken up by methanotrophs • ~ 5% uplifted to stratosphere • ~ 90% removed by tropospheric ·OH

  8. Tropospheric Methane Chemistry CH4 •OH H2O •CH3 O2 CH3O2• CH3O• O2 NO2 HO2• NO VOC-sensitive (High NOx) CH2O PANs hv hv O3 H2 H• CHO• CO Source: Wuebbles, D.; Hayhoe, K. Atmospheric methane and global change. Earth-Science Reviews. [Online] 2002, 57, 177-210.

  9. Tropospheric Methane Chemistry CH4 •OH H2O •CH3 O2 CH3O2• CH3OOH CH2OOH hv •OH Nox-sensitive (Low NOx) H2O HO2• O2 •OH CH2O hv hv H2 H• CO CHO• Source: Wuebbles, D.; Hayhoe, K. Atmospheric methane and global change. Earth-Science Reviews. [Online] 2002, 57, 177-210.

  10. Tropospheric Methane Chemistry • Methane oxidation cycle • Accounts for much of the CH2O in the troposphere • Produces ~ ¼ of the total CO • CO + •OH  H• + CO2 • Forms O3 (high NOx) • Positive feedback ( ↑CH4… ↑ CO… ↓•OH ) • ↑ methane, ↑ atmospheric lifetime, ↑ methane…

  11. Stratospheric Methane Chemistry • Major source of stratospheric water vapor • CH4 + •OH  •CH3 + H2O • May enhance polar stratospheric cloud formation and exacerbate ozone depletion • Reservoir for Cl• • CH4 + Cl• •CH3 + HCl • Prolongs ozone depletion

  12. U.S. Anthropogenic Methane Emissions (2006) Source: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006. Office of Atmospheric Programs; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2008.

  13. U.S. Solid Waste by Category (Before Recycling, 2006) Source: Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/msw06.pdf.

  14. Management of U.S. Solid Waste (2006) Source: Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/msw06.pdf.

  15. Municipal Solid Waste Landfills • Residential • Commercial • Non-hazardous industrial

  16. Trends in U.S. Municipal Solid Waste Generation (1960 – 2006) Source: Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/msw06.pdf.

  17. Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Emissions • ~50% methane • ~45% CO2 • Less than 5% N2 • Trace amounts of non-methane organic compounds • various HAPs, ozone depleting substances, and VOCs  Landfill gas contributes to the greenhouse effect, smog formation, health and explosion hazards

  18. Landfill Gas Controls • Combustion • Flaring • Energy recovery (IC engines, gas/steam turbines) • Purification  Natural gas CH4 + 2O2 CO2 + 2H2O + heat energy

  19. U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Allocated to Economic Sectors (1990 – 2006) Source: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006. Office of Atmospheric Programs; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2008.

  20. Trends in U.S. MSW Landfill Emissions (1990 – 2006) Source: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006. Office of Atmospheric Programs; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2008.

  21. Landfill Methane Outreach Program • Created by the EPA in 1994 • Goal: lower the barriers to building landfill gas energy recovery systems • 435 landfill-gas-to-energy facilities already generating 1,325MW of electricity • ~550 candidate landfills identified • Collective potential to power more than 1.6 million homes annually

  22. Chautauqua County Landfill • 83 acres in the town of Ellery, NY • Serves: Chautauqua County, parts of Erie and Cattaraugus Counties, and Pennsylvania • ~ 300,000 tons of solid waste per year • Household • Commercial • Nonhazardous industrial • Construction/demolition waste • Sewage treatment sludge

  23. Chautauqua County Landfill

  24. Or you could just go to jail…

  25. LFG Collection System

  26. The Working Field

  27. Flare

  28. Proposed Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project • Power plant to house four 1.6 MW IC engines • Grid connection • $9 to $10 million cost • $40 to $80 million profit • Expected to be operational by end of 2009 • Will create 2 full-time and 3 part-time jobs • Will generate enough electricity to power over 4,000 homes a year

  29. Considerations… • Combustion emissions regardless of energy recovery • NOx, CO, PM, NMOCs, halogenated compounds • Internal combustion engines • Least expensive • Most efficient at generating electricity • Release largest amounts of NO2 and PM • CO emissions second only to flaring • Least efficient at controlling halogenated compounds

  30. Considerations… • Landfills must be currently operating/recently closed with ≤ 1,000,000 tons of waste-in-place • Economically viable for only 30 years after closing • Projects can only operate at their max. capacities • Dependent on wastefulness

  31. Conclusion • Landfill Methane Outreach Program • ↓ methane by 28 million MTCE = removing 19 million passenger cars from the road for 1 year • Accomplished using existing technologies • Sewage treatment plants, livestock waste-to-energy Refuse  Resource

  32. Sources • Forster, P., et al. Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing; Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge UniversityPress: Cambridge, UK, 2007. • Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006. Office of Atmospheric Programs; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2008. • Manahan, S. E. Environmental Chemistry, 8th Ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2005. • Methane as a Greenhouse Gas. U.S. Climate Change Science Program Office. http://www.climatescience.gov/infosheets/highlight1/CCSP-H1-methane18jan2006.pdf (accessed April 9, 2008). • Methane: Sources and Emissions. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/methane/index.html (accessed April 12, 2008), 2007. • Wuebbles, D.; Hayhoe, K. Atmospheric methane and global change. Earth-Science Reviews. [Online] 2002, 57, 177-210. • Turning a Liability into an Asset: A Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project Development Handbook. Landfill Methane Outreach Program; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1996. • Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/msw06.pdf (accessed April 12, 2008). • Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/lmop/index.htm (accessed April 14, 2008), 2008. • Jaramillo, P.; Matthews, H. S. Landfill-Gas-to-Energy Projects: Analysis of Net Private and Social Benefits. Environ. Sci. Technol. [Online] 2005, 39, 7365-7373. • Panteli, P. K. Deputy Director of Public Facilities, Chautauqua County Landfill: Ellery, NY. Interviewed April 11, 2008. • Emission Factors: Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. Technology Transfer Network, Clearinghouse for Inventories and Emission Factors; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1998. • Good, D. A.; Francisco, J. S. Atmospheric Chemistry of Alternative Fuels and Alternative Chlorofluorocarbons. Chem. Rev. [Online] 2003,103,4999-5023. • Panteli, P. K. Engineering Report: Landfill Gas Recovery Facility. Chautauqua County Department of Public Facilities, Division of Solid Waste, 2008. • Grant to fund conversion of methane into energy. The Buffalo News, December 29, 2007. • Municipal Solid Waste. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/facts.htm (accessed April 14, 2008), 2008.

More Related