Smaller Cities Explore Landfill Gas Opportunities

More and more smaller cities and towns are successfully turning landfill gas into vehicle fuel despite the fact that they are a small city with less landfill space and resources. Thanks to new scientific enhancements, smaller landfills can now efficiently generate fuel at economical costs.

When the practice of turning landfill gas to vehicle fuel was first introduced, it was only cost efficient for the largest of landfills as the minimum requirement was one thousand cubic feet of landfill gas per minute. However, the technology is now available so that disposal sites producing even a few hundred cubic feet per minute can take advantage and harness the gas into usable energy.

The development and use of landfill gas has been very successful over the past few years in the United States and due to its growth, municipalities are now looking for ways to use it to generate electricity as well as to pipe the vehicle fuel directly to users and buyers. For municipalities that have fleets of cars and trucks to maintain, landfill gas is a great way to control for skyrocketing gasoline prices imported from other countries.

For example, in Washington Parish, Louisiana, fifteen parish-owned vehicles are now completely fueled by landfill gas. In St. Landry Parish, the landfill gas program generates ten gallons of gasoline each hour and is used to fuel vehicles for both garbage and recycling collection and the sheriff’s department.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: What are your elected officials doing to embrace new technologies like turning landfill gas into vehicle fuel? Whether you’re a business owner, a home-owner, or just an interested citizen, encouraging your community to go green will help to save everyone money!