Options for Landfill Gas Management

When most people think of landfill gas they think of the bad odors of a waste disposal site. However, in reality, if you were to drive by most landfills today you would probably not even smell anything. This is because it is law to extract gas that is generated in sanitary landfills in order to protect air quality. This gas is the result of the decomposition of waste and is primarily composed of methane and carbon dioxide. Landfill gas contributes to the greenhouse effect which advances climate change, and therefore, it is a very serious air pollutant. Gas is also managed to prevent underground gas migration which can lead to gas accumulation in buildings causing dangerous situations. I have provided significant information on the two options available for landfill gas management for sanitary landfills; burning gas by flare and converting gas to energy.
Landfill gas can be extracted from a waste site and managed by burning it in a flare. Flaring gas was once one of the most common forms of gas management but has recently become less dominant. Burning gas is a very basic concept and requires close maintenance. Landfill gas could be vented directly into the air if a flare is not operating properly. If this gas is released without burning, it can cause severe odors, as well as pollute the air. Flares can sometimes release harmful gases even when it is burning if complete combustion is not achieved. The greatest downside of using a flare is the gas cannot be reused ever again. Major benefits of using a flare are that it takes fewer employees to manage, costs to operate and repair are less, and the varying gas compositions have no effect on equipment life. There are other alternatives for controlling this pollution.
Waste to energy transformation is a more effective way to manage landfill gas. By cleaning the methane/carbon dioxide mixture, a product similar to natural gas is achieved; this is known as biogas. Biogas can fuel internal combustion engines that create electricity, be compressed to run a vehicle, or generate heat using a boiler. Capturing gas and using it as a fuel prevents it from being released directly into the air and is therefore quite sustainable. Gas to energy management can be expensive to initiate and continuously operate; however, gas can be collected and sold for a large profit to specialized buyers. In addition, landfills will generate gas for years allowing a substantial amount of fuel to be extracted. Overall, converting waste to energy is a growing technology that will continue to develop because it is a more sustainable way to manage landfill gas.
This information can be used to assess the two management plans for sanitary landfills. In my opinion, it is better to manage landfill gas using a waste to energy method. Because of the scarcity of natural energy resources such as oil, other forms of energy need to be implemented. Even though waste to energy is not widely used yet, it is a developing technology and may someday contribute to helping the world’s energy problems.