Landfill Methane Outreach Program

The speaker from Curtis Engine particularly caught my interest. It think that it is so fascinating that an energy source can be created from waste. Energy from methane gas uses a pollutant that can be very damaging to the environment and turns it into a very beneficial thing for us. In 1994, the EPA has created the Landfill Methane Outreach Program which is working to greatly reduce methane emissions from landfills by encouraging the use of landfill gas as an energy source.

A great benefit of using landfill methane as an energy source is the huge amount of greenhouse gas reductions. Methane is a huge participant in global climate change (it is 21 times stronger than CO2). About 60-90% of methane that is typically released into the air from landfills will be captured and used to create energy.

Another benefit is that using landfill methane as an energy source reduces our dependency on fossil fuels. By using less fossil fuels, we are cutting down other pollutant emissions and the reliance of foreign oil. The surrounding area will be benefited because there will be less landfill odors.

I found an article, One Man's Garbage, Another's Power Plant, and read it because I thought the title was clever. It was a positive article that discussed the benefits of methane gas as an energy source, particularly in New Jersey. New Jersey is one of the leading users of methane gas, which is good because the people of New Jersey produce 50% more pounds of trash per day than the national average. The article states that landfills are typically considered "wasted space" but after this new technology, they can be extremely beneficial.