TerraPass project types

TerraPass funds four different project types: farm power which makes good use of animal wastes; landfill gas capture which reduces the impact of our own wastes; abandoned coal mine methane capture which destroys methane gas from coal mines; and clean energy produced by wind power.

 

Farm power

Our farm power projects are all about making the best possible use of animal waste. If you're squeamish about words like "manure" and don't care to envision exactly what "digested solids" are, here's the short story:

Your money helps farmers capture and destroy the methane, a powerful global warming gas which forms when managing animal waste. Methane is estimated to be 21 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Your money supports the installation and operation of anaerobic digesters, lagoon covers, and electricity generators.

Landfill gas capture

The trash we bury in landfills decomposes slowly, producing methane which escapes into the atmosphere. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas - about 21 times as powerful as carbon dioxide - so projects which capture and destroy that gas are of great benefit to the climate.

These projects capture the methane from landfills using wells, pipes, blowers and other technology; and destroy the gas by burning it in a flare, or by generating electricity, or by sending purified gas to industrial end-users for process heat.

Abandoned coal mine methane capture

Coal mines are a major source of methane emissions in the US. Methane escapes both from active mines, where it is not economical to collect it, and from abandoned mines that have reached the end of their useful life. Your money provides a helpful incentive to collect and destroy methane gas from coal mines that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere as a powerful greenhouse gas.

Coal mine methane projects capture methane from mines using blowers and then destroy the gas by burning it in flares; using it in generators to create electricity; or injecting it directly into the natural gas system.

Clean energy from wind farms

Most electricity comes from fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. These conventional sources produce carbon dioxide emissions. Wind energy, on the other hand, is virtually carbon-free. Funding wind energy helps to lower the proportion of electricity we derive from dirty power sources.

Building and operating a wind farm takes a lot more than a strong breeze. Wind power is more expensive to produce than power from coal and natural gas. This is because electricity is only produced when the wind is blowing, and because the number of kilowatts produced varies depending on wind speed and direction.

When TerraPass supports a wind farm, we calculate how much carbon dioxide we're reducing by examining the "carbon profile" of the electricity grid where the energy is produced. This carbon profile is calculated periodically by the US Environmental Protection Agency by examining the carbon dioxide emissions of all commercial energy sources within each regional grid. So, if generating a megawatt-hour of electricity results in emissions of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide within a particular grid, then 100 MWh of clean energy generated within that grid saves 100,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.