News Release from GE - Landfill Gas

23 February 2012

GE Gas Engine Technology to Power China’s Largest Landfill Gas Project

 

• GE’s Jenbacher Gas Engines to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions by More than 340,000 Tons per Year and Greenhouse Gas by Nearly 19 Million Cubic Meters Each Year
• Project Supports Chinese Government’s 12^th Five-Year Plan to Invest More than RMB260 Billion in the Waste Treatment Industry by 2015
• GE Cements Leadership Position in China with Latest Alternative Power-to-Energy Project

SHANGHAI, CHINA—February 23, 2012

GE (NYSE: GE) today announced that its ecomagination-qualified Jenbacher gas engines will power China’s largest landfill gas (LFG) power generation project. The Laogang LFG project is owned by Laogang Renewable Energy Co., a joint venture formed by Veolia and Shanghai Environment Group, and supports the Chinese government’s 12th Five-Year Plan, during which China plans to invest more than RMB$260 billion in the waste treatment industry including waste-to-energy initiatives by 2015[1].

“Traditionally, landfill methane as a potent greenhouse gas has been released directly into the air,” said Chen Hongzhang, general manager, Laogang Renewable Energy Co. “By using GE’s gas engines fueled by LFG, we expect to save emissions by over 340,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, significantly improving the local environment in Shanghai.”

Seven of GE’s ecomagination-qualified Jenbacher J420 gas engines, which will provide about 10 megawatts of electricity, will power the new Laogang LFG facility located in Shanghai. Each J420 engine combusts 2.7 million cubic meters (m³) of methane each year, providing an overall yearly reduction of greenhouse gas of around 18.9 million m³ for the seven gas engines. The Renewable Energy Company will sell any excess electricity generated to the grid. This project is an example of how GE’s portfolio of innovative distributed power solutions, ranging from 100 kilowatts (kW) to 100 megawatts (MW), gives businesses and communities around the world the ability to generate reliable and efficient power anywhere, whether on or off the grid.

GE’s Jenbacher landfill gas engines use the gas—consisting of methane, carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen—created during the decomposition of organic substances in a landfill. Methane has a global warming factor 21 times greater than carbon dioxide, the most widely recognized greenhouse gas affecting climate change. With a calorific value of approximately 5 kWh/Nm³, landfill gas constitutes a high-value fuel for gas engines that can be effectively used for energy generation. One of GE’s Jenbacher J420 gas engines running on landfill gas can generate 1.4 MW electricity while saving the emissions of more than 49,000 metric tons of CO₂-equivalent per year through methane destruction and displaced grid electricity production; this is equivalent to the annual CO₂ emissions of more than 9,500 passenger cars on U.S. roads.

“This important project underscores our commitment to providing alternative energy solutions to help China meet its energy goals and cements our position as a leader in this segment,” said Rafael Santana, president and CEO—Gas Engines for GE Energy. “Our Jenbacher gas engines combine high efficiency and reliability with fuel flexibility to meet our customers’ needs with positive environmental impact. The seven Jenbacher J420 gas engines running on landfill gas are designed to generate almost 80 megawatt hours of electricity per year, which could power more than 46,000 Chinese households per year[2].”

The gas engines are scheduled to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2012 with commercial operation expected in December 2012.

This project is the latest in GE’s landfill gas solutions using Jenbacher gas engines. On October 31, 2011, GE announced that it had supplied a fourth J420 Jenbacher gas engine to Asja Brasil’s new 4.3-megawatt Belo Horizonte landfill-gas-to-energy (LFGTE) project in Brazil, helping to meet the country’s goals to increase the production of renewable and alternative energy.

On October 11, 2011, GE announced that it joined government officials and utility representatives at the Golden Triangle Regional Landfill in northeastern Mississippi in the United States to mark the commercial start up of the state’s first LFGTE project that will support the regional grid. Owned by the Golden Triangle Regional Solid Waste Management Authority (GTRSWMA), the LFGTE facility uses an ecomagination-qualified, GE J320 Jenbacher landfill gas engine to generate nearly 1 MW of renewable power sold through Tennessee Valley Authority’s renewable power initiative—enough to support about 700 average U.S. homes.

GE’s alternative gas-to-power portfolio includes its Jenbacher andWaukesha gas engines, which are specifically designed to provide the fuel flexibility needed to accommodate the use of alternative fuels such as landfill gas while offering high levels of electrical efficiency. GE’s Jenbacher landfill gas engines are part of the ecomagination portfolio for successfully demonstrating that converting landfill gas to electricity demonstrates both improved value and environmental performance. Ecomagination is GE’s commitment to invest in a future that creates innovative solutions to global environmental challenges.

The Rise of Landfill Gas to Energy

The following is an excerpt of an article with the above title in the January 2012 issue of Waste Age magazine:

Landfill gas (LFG) provides power for one million homes and heat for 737,000 homes across the country.  It provides 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 102 billion cu. ft of LFG for direct use by industry.  It contributes to the nation’s supply of natural gas and clean-burning fuel for vehicles.

The environmental benefits of these LFG uses are huge.  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the use of LFG reduced the consumption of oil in the United States by about 229 million barrels of oil last year.

Using LFG also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.  EPA says that landfills rank as the third-largest human-generated source of methane emissions in the United States.  Among greenhouse gases, methane, the fuel component of LFG, is one of the most potent.  For instance, it is 21 times stronger than carbon dioxide.

The EPA also estimates that a typical LFG energy project collects and uses 60 to 90 percent of the methane emitted by a landfill.

Thanks to the environmental benefits of putting LFG to use, landfill-gas-to-energy has begun to emerge as a renewable energy industry.

Consider the landfill-gas-to-energy (LFGTE) project at the Newton County Landfill in Brook, Ind., for example.  There, LFG is helping to manufacture egg cartons.

One of the largest landfills in the country, Newton County, owned by Phoenix-based Republic Services, Inc., receives nearly 2.7 million tons of trash per year.  Recently, the landfill began sending LFG to the neighboring Newton County Renewable Energy Park through a 2,500-foot pipeline.

At the industrial park, Canadian firm Urban Forestf Recyclers Inc. (UFR) of Swift Current, Sask., manufactures packaging, such as egg cartons, from recycled fiber.  The process blends mixed newsprint and cardboard into a slurry that is poured into molds.  The LFG fuels the system of blowers used to dry the molds.

WM Named EPA LMOP Industry Partner of the Year

Sometimes propaganda can have informational value.  News release from Waste Management:


Waste Management Named EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program Industry Partner of the Year

North America's largest landfill gas-to-energy owner and operator recognized for leadership in waste-based renewable energy development



Houston — January 18, 2012 — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) has named Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) its 2011 Industry Partner of the Year for leadership in developing waste-based renewable energy. Waste Management is the largest landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) developer and operator in North America and is continuing to expand its roster of energy facilities. This year’s awards were presented earlier today at the 15^th Annual LMOP Partner and Project of the Year Awards Ceremony in Baltimore, MD.

To view a short video explaining how landfills can power homes, college campuses and more, visit the WM video- Landfill Power: Turning Gas into Energy.

In 2011, WM commissioned nine LFGTE facilities with a collective capacity of 29.5 MW, bringing the number of LFGTE facilities to 133 active projects in North America. In total, these facilities produced the equivalent of 617 MW of power – enough to power 473,000 homes, and offset the consumption of over 2.4 million tons of coal. Waste Management plans to commission four additional projects in the first quarter of 2012 and is working on at least eight additional projects through its dedicated in-house project development team, which works on both WM-owned sites and those owned by municipalities and industry partners.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a leading partner in this sector by the EPA, and a testament to the hard work of our team over the last several years,” said Paul Pabor, vice president of renewable energy at Waste Management. “Waste Management developed much of the technology still in use today, and continues to find new ways to capture resources in waste. We’re looking forward to continued innovation, creating electricity, generating renewable fuels and powering local businesses with the resources at our disposal.”

Waste Management was active in two projects that won 2010 Project of the Year. The first, the University of New Hampshire EcoLine^TM project, brought gas from Waste Management’s Turnkey Landfill through a 12-mile pipe, supplying 85 percent of the campus’s heat and electricity needs. The second, at the Altamont Landfill Resource and Recovery Facility in Livermore, CA, consisted of a partnership with Linde North America. There, the companies produce up to 13,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from landfill gas every day to fuel hundreds of WM fleet vehicles. The Altamont project is the largest landfill gas-to-LNG project in the world.                                                   

Landfill gas, generated by the natural breakdown of organic materials in a landfill, contains large amounts of methane that can be collected to generate electricity, power local businesses or be turned into transportation fuel. A successful program can turn a modern landfill from a mere disposal site to a source of clean, renewable energy to power homes and fuel vehicles.

Waste Management is continually exploring new technologies and services to generate renewable energy from waste. LFGTE complements the company’s other waste services in the areas of recycling, landfill operations and waste-based energy technology. LFGTE projects also contribute to one of Waste Management’s sustainability goals, doubling energy generation by 2020 to power the equivalent of 2 million homes.

EPA’s LMOP has assisted with more than 500 LFG energy projects over the past 16 years. The United States currently has about 575 operational LFG energy projects which annually supply more than 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and ~102 billion cubic feet of LFG to direct-use applications. There is still significant potential for expansion of the technology; LMOP has identified over 500 landfills that could provide an additional 1,155 MW of electrical power.