SOLUTIONS Agriculture & Waste

Methane, which is released directly into the atmosphere from livestock, sewage treatment plants, and landfills, is a potent heat-trapping gas of which uncontrolled emissions are often a local and regional nuisance.  However, proven technology and collaboration among the owners of such sources, agencies of local, state, and federal governments, and large institutions can often transform such problems into an asset that reduces heat-trapping emissions, replaces fossil fuels, provides jobs, and enhances local energy security.

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Landfills produce methane gas in from the  decomposition of organic waste that can be captured and converted into energy. As of April, 2007, the U.S. EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program indicates that Northeast states have 46 operational projects, but twice that number with potential for development as energy projects remain untapped.

Farms in the Northeast have successfully installed collection systems, such as anaerobic digesters, to capture methane to use as a fuel in a microturbine, for example. These systems can generate both electricity and heat for farm operations.