Using Methane from Waste Streams for Energy: A Win-Win Solution

Every day on farms and in cities across the country, tens of thousands of tons of energy- and nutrient-rich organic matter is concentrated in waste streams. It represents a largely untapped source of renewable energy that could provide clean heat, power, and low-carbon transportation fuels. Yet, today, instead of capturing and using the biogas that is generated from the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in landfills, livestock manure, and wastewater treatment plants, much of the methane-rich biogas is released to the atmosphere where it becomes a potent greenhouse gas .

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , methane from landfills accounted for 126 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) of methane (22 percent of all U.S. methane emissions due to human activities); livestock manure management accounted for 45 MMTCO2e (8 percent); and sewage wastewater treatment systems accounted for 24 MMTCO2e (4 percent) in 2008. In terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, capturing all of this methane would be the equivalent of removing millions of vehicles from the roads. As a renewable energy source, it could provide heat and power for hundreds of thousands of homes or provide the energy equivalent of billions of gallons of gasoline as a low-carbon, renewable transportation fuel. Since our farms and cities already collect and concentrate so much organic waste, why not use it for renewable energy and nutrient recycling and turn waste streams into revenue streams for livestock producers and waste management agencies?

On Wednesday, June 16, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) will bring experts to Capitol Hill to give a briefing on the current challenges and needed policy solutions to developing this widely available renewable energy resource. Speakers will discuss existing federal programs to promote renewable biogas in dairy and livestock operations; what a California utility is doing to distribute and use renewable biogas; what German farmers have done to capture the benefits of renewable biogas; and anaerobic digesters, gasification systems, and other technologies that turn organic wastes into renewable biogas. This event is free and open to the public, and the presentations will be posted on EESI’s website afterward.