Methane gases from landfill sites represent a threat to the global climate but they can also prove a valuable source of energy. A landfill site in Des Plaines, Illinois, uses the gases from urban waste to generate electricity.

Methane from landfills is a significant source of greenhouse gases. It’s becoming an increasing concern mainly in countries in transition. Still, older facilities in industrialized countries like the US often are not required to use the best available technologies today. Plants continue emitting methane for a long time after a landfill has been closed.

The landfill is located about 25 kilometers outside Chicago. It stopped accepting new waste in 1984. By then, roughly 9.8 million cubic meters of waste had been deposited. Organic waste within the landfill decomposes without the addition of oxygen and methane is created. More than 25 years after its closure, the landfill continues to emit about 3000 tons of methane per year. If released into the atmosphere, methane is 21 times more damaging to the global climate than the same amount of CO₂.

This project consists of a methane capture and collection system. Two gas engines rated at 1.75 Megawatts each combust the methane. The result is electricity that can be fed into the local grid and the breakdown of methane into less harmful CO₂.

The planning and above all the dimensioning of the project is a science in itself. It is extremely difficult to forecast a landfill’s methane emissions, particularly when records go back to the 1960s and are often incomplete. Even in a best case scenario, it’s nearly impossible to profitably operate such a facility solely from the sale of electricity. Fortunately, climate finance makes up for the shortfalls and make an investment in the environment possible.