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 Documents,
Tools and Resources
Waste Management, Inc.
Forming Partnerships to Lead the Landfill Gas Energy Industry
Waste Management, Inc. (WMI) provides comprehensive waste management
services and undertakes projects that collect landfill gas and convert
it to usable energy. WMI owns and operates nearly 300 landfills throughout
the United States and has formed a joint venture partnership to operate
more than 30 landfill gas energy (LFGE) projects. WMI also collaborates
with a variety of other energy-services contractors, including Landfill
Energy Systems, TORO Energy, and Ameresco Energy Services. For its efforts
to promote and expand LFGE projects, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) recognized WMI as a Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP)
Industry Partner of the Year in 1999.
WMI has been working independently and through partnerships to develop
LFGE power production facilities. WMI operates more than 30 landfill gas
powered electric generating plants throughout the United States, several
of which have been in operation since the mid-1980s. These plants employ
reciprocating engines and combustion turbines that use landfill gas as
the primary fuel source. In 1986, WMI formed Bio-Energy Partners whose
plants produced nearly 1.2 billion kWh of energy in 2000 using landfill
gas.
WMI recently entered into a unique partnership with Green Knights Economic
Development Corporation (GKEDC), a nonprofit corporation formed by local
citizens in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, to construct an 8 MW LFGE
facility. The revenue from this project helps promote economic development
in the region. In addition, WMI entered into a partnership with the Omaha
Public Power District (OPPD) to provide local energy. OPPD owns—while
WMI developed and operates—a 3.2 MW LFGE facility at WMI’s
Douglas County Landfill near Omaha, Nebraska. WMI undertook this project
in hopes of spurring interest in green power purchases in the absence
of deregulation or competition.
In addition to being a power provider, WMI has also been involved in
direct sales of landfill gas to end users. Since 1988, WMI has delivered
landfill gas directly to Ford Motor Company, via an approximately four-mile
pipeline, to help fuel boilers and reciprocating engines at Ford facilities.
WMI also directly sells landfill gas to Emory Chemical, Blue Circle Cement,
PECO, SC Johnson, and Ogden.
By actively seeking and maintaining partnerships, WMI expanded its options
for developing facilities that use landfill gas for energy production.
WMI continues to look for ways to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
Summary of Benefits
- Generates clean, renewable energy
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
- Builds partnerships within communities
What Is Landfill Gas?
Most of the waste we generate ends up in landfills,
where it decomposes and produces landfill gas. Landfill gas, if
uncontrolled, can contribute to local smog and present health and
safety hazards. Additionally, landfill gas is approximately 50 percent
methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate
change. Methane, however, is also a reliable and renewable fuel
source that can be collected an used in a variety of applications. |
LMOP is a voluntary program that assists project developers, utilities,
landfill owners/operators, energy users, and communities to encourage
new LFGE projects. LMOP has developed a variety of tools (e.g., profiles,
fact sheets, project development manuals, and software) to facilitate
the development of LFGE projects. Hundreds of landfills across the country—and
around the world—are good candidates for a LFGE project. To find out more, please contact LMOP.
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