Ninth project enters comment period

Tom Arnold | June 2, 2008

Comment on our newest project: Upper Rock Island turns waste methane into clean energy.

Four months ago, TerraPass became the first (and is still the only) carbon offset provider to invite the public to review projects before they are included in our portfolio. Now we offer up our ninth project for consideration, the Upper Rock Island County Landfill Gas to Energy facility.

This 3.95-megawatt gas-to-energy project at the landfill that serves communities in Rock Island County, Illinois reduces the amount of greenhouse gas (methane) that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. The methane is destroyed predominantly by internal combustion engines to create clean energy, with an open flare as backup.

Check out the details and send our project team an email with your reactions.

As we approach double digit numbers of projects that have gone through the stakeholder comment period, we’re as jazzed as ever about the process. The march of progress in our industry is alive and well and we hope others will adopt this practice.

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Comments

4 comment(s) on this post. Leave your own!

1. By KAREN on June 4, 2008 8:08 AM

I would like to express my concern for this project. The air pollution produced by the burning should be considered. It seems that you are replacing one problem with another. There would be considerable amounts of Dioxins and numerous other toxic chemicals that cause cancer produced by the burning process. I dont know how you could consider this project sustainable.

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2. By Nathan on June 4, 2008 9:09 AM

I agree with Karen that the engines will be releasing CO2 and water vapor in the combustion process and that the landfill should be purchasing the most efficient engines as possible.

However, I also am assuming the landfill is currently flaring (burning off) the methane they are producing which also releases CO2 and water vapor. By utilizing the methane to help offset energy production via coal or other nonrenewable energy I believe this landfill could be a benefit to the environment.

The methane is available for use, why not use it to produce power rather than wasting it by flaring?

This is just a comment, please use your own judgment.

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3. By Robert on June 4, 2008 9:12 AM

I believe the landfill would be required to meet all air quality permits by burning the methane.

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4. By Adam Stein on June 4, 2008 11:59 AM

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments. We'll add these to the report we compile for every project that goes through stakeholder review. Although we'll address these concerns more fully in the report, I'll briefly mention:

* Burning methane from landfill to create clean energy does result in significant environmental benefits over releasing it into the air.
* Methane burns quite cleanly. Karen, I think you may be confusing the burning of waste itself -- which can result in a lot of dioxins and other toxins -- and the burning of landfill gas. Although landfill gas is certainly not 100% pure methane, it is generally very clean.

More details in the final report.

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