DIRECTOR'S CORNER
Using landfill gas for fuel and energy
Recovering energy from landfill gas can reduce pollutant emissions in communities around Virginia and improve air quality, one of the primary goals of the Department of Environmental Quality.
DEQ recently issued an air permit that highlights the use of this underutilized fuel and energy resource. The permit allows Birchwood Power Partners in King George County to use landfill gas, a by-product of decomposing waste, as a supplemental fuel source. The power plant will supplement coal, the primary fuel, with gas from the King George landfill.
DEQ expects the process to reduce emissions of air pollutants by using less coal, minimize the migration of odors associated with gas from the county landfill and conserve non-renewable coal resources.
This project is only one of many that use landfill gas from more than a dozen landfills in Virginia. Supplemental fuel and electricity generating efforts are the two most common landfill gas projects in the state. Landfill gas that is used to generate power (primarily through reciprocating engines) also reduces air pollution by displacing some utility power generation in Virginia.
At most landfills, the gas is burned or “flared” to prevent its release into the atmosphere. But some businesses clearly see a benefit to using landfill gas rather than flaring it, and a couple of landfill gas projects have received national attention.
One of these projects uses a 23-mile pipeline to transfer gas from the Waste Management Atlantic Waste Disposal landfill in Waverly to the Honeywell Nylon plant in Hopewell. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave these facilities and Enerdyne Power Systems the 2004 Project of the Year award from its Landfill Methane Outreach Program in January 2005. Atlantic Waste estimated that it reduced its air emissions in 2004 by more than 4,000 tons by selling gas to Honeywell according to its annual report prepared as a part of DEQ’s Environmental Excellence Program.
Fauquier County also received the 2004 Community Partner of the Year award from the EPA program. The county worked to develop a landfill gas project at a landfill that ordinarily may have been overlooked because of its small size.
The EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program has been working since 1994 to help communities and facilities develop landfill gas projects across the country. This approach clearly can be used at more facilities, and DEQ is considering joining the voluntary program as a state partner.
The use of landfill gas has significant environmental benefits for all Virginians. There also are financial benefits for facilities as the use of landfill gas can offset the purchase of expensive fuels. But it also makes sense to use this renewable resource instead of wasting it. As demands for energy and fuel grow, landfill gas may become a more widely used resource in Virginia.