Landfill Gas Extraction and Reuse

Problem definition

The municipal solid waste (MSW) has a relatively high content of organic matter. By means of anaerobic microbial activity, the organic matter is converted to biogas (50% methane CH4). The common Dutch practice of covering and degassing landfills is not applied in Romania. It was noted at the visited locations that generated biogas escapes from the landfill and at some locations it was burning.

Not extracting landfill gas has a number of adverse environmental impacts:

Note: a landfill with a capacity of 2 million cubic meters (10 hectares and 20 m in height) generates 200 million cubic meters CH4 (or 0.3 million tonnes of CO2. over 10 years).

Note: 1m3 STP (standard temperature and pressure) landfill gas has an energy content comparable to 1.5 kWh. A landfill with a capacity of 2 million tonnes generates a potential of 300 million kWh (10 years).

Not covering the landfills has considerable other environmental impacts: emissions of leachate into the groundwater, nuisance, odour and windblown litter.

Using the Dutch practice of degassing in Romania would reduce the global emission of greenhouse gases significantly. On the basis of the Climate Change Conference of Kyoto the Dutch Government has committed itself to a mayor reduction (50 Mton) of emissions. The Dutch government aims at fulfilling 50 % of the abatement effort abroad via the use of the flexible instruments (Joint Implementation, Clean Development Mechanism and International Emission Trading). In realising this effort Romania is a promising partner as the Dutch and Romanian governments have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which they agree to continue and expand their co-operation in the field of Joint Implementation.

The extraction and reuse of biogas is in line with Romanian environmental policies, as one of the priorities is improved waste management and ecological landfilling. In Romania a wave of privatisation of state owned companies is taking place and the energy sector is no exception. This reorganisation creates opportunities for independent power producers.

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