L.P. Gill Landfill

» Please submit comments by August 21, 2008 to projects@terrapass.com.

The L.P. Gill Landfill project is a beneficial use project that captures methane gas from the L.P. Gill Landfill and pipes it to a nearby ethanol plant. The project reduces the amount of methane that would have been released by a rural landfill serving a wide area of northeast Nebraska and neighboring states. The methane is destroyed in a thermal oxidizer in the ethanol plant or in a backup flare at the landfill.

The project consists of 42 wells, a blower system, gas cleaning and pressurizing system and a 1.25-mile pipeline to the ethanol plant. After some initial testing in April 2007, the project went online in December 2007 and reached consistent operation in April 2008.

TerraPass funds would ensure an adequate financial return for the project, boosting the return closer to other investment opportunities, and covering the operational costs of the project.

This project meets Chicago Climate Exchange standards.

Project details

The L.P. Gill landfill has three million tons of waste in place. The landfill installed a gas collection and compression system in late 2007.

L.P. Gill Inc. owns and operates the landfill, as well as a trash and recycling pick-up business that serves parts of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota (Sioux City region). The landfill opened in 1981 and is not expected to close until 2060.

L.P. Gill signed a gas purchase agreement with Siouxland Ethanol in July 2006. As part of the agreement, L.P. Gill provided the capital to develop and build the project, including all infrastructure at the landfill, the pipeline to the ethanol plant, as well as contingent obligation to pay for certain upgrades to the ethanol plant’s equipment to enable it to burn landfill gas.

The project comprises 39 wells connected to two blowers, each rated to pump a gas volume of 600 SCFM from the wells. The landfill gas has an approximate methane concentration of 51%. L.P. Gill intends to run one blower at a time to reduce the electricity draw and fuel usage. Before entering a 1.25-mile pipeline to Siouxland ethanol, the gas is de-watered and pressurized.

Once at the ethanol plant the landfill gas is blended with natural gas in thermal oxidizers. The system can handle variable flows from the landfill as production increases with waste in place. 11,000 MMBtu were produced in June 2008.

Project location

L.P. Gill Landfill is located in Jackson, NE, about 12 miles west of Sioux City, NE.

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Other environmental and social benefits

Environmental benefits

• Improvement in air quality (e.g., VOC reductions)
• Reduction of odor in surrounding areas
• The project leads to reductions in the demand for natural gas that, although not formally credited, serve as a important illustration of successful use of “waste” gas

Social benefits

• Construction jobs related to the project
• Creation of two full time jobs at L.P. Gill
• Lower and more predictable energy costs at the ethanol plant

Project’s ability to foster further greenhouse gas emissions reductions

The facility is currently exploring additional wells and methane recovery opportunities.

Discussion of appropriate use of TerraPass funds

TerraPass considers many aspects of projects before deciding whether to fund them. Here is a summary of key considerations for this project.

Baseline conditions

The facility had never installed any landfill gas flaring equipment, meaning the baseline condition was venting of methane into the atmosphere.

The US EPA reports that of the 2,300 or so currently operating or recently closed U.S. landfills, only about 400 have gas use projects, indicating that these projects are not standard practice in the industry.

Additionality

No regulatory requirements. L.P. Gill operates a small landfill which is not required by state, federal, or local regulations to capture its methane emissions. The facility is too small to be subject to NSPS regulations that require gas capture and control systems. The facility anticipates reaching the NSPS threshold in approximately 40 years.

Impact of TerraPass funds. TerraPass seeks projects where the funding from our purchases helps assure a positive financial outcome for the greenhouse gas emission reduction project. We want to be sure the project owner is encouraged to continue operating and investing in the project.

Our analysis of the projects costs and returns suggest that carbon revenues provide a 5% boost to the project’s investment return. With this significant boost, the project could serve as a good model for other independent landfills that can attract direct use clients. Our modeling also shows that carbon revenues cover the extensive operational costs of the project.

In an interview, Leonard Gill, founder of L.P. Gill, gave this advice to other independent landfill operators:

“I wouldn’t recommend that other independent landfills do these type of projects without revenues from carbon offsets. After all, even if a project’s energy revenues are disrupted, the carbon revenues can keep the system running.”

Better than most. We want our projects to stand out as role models. Therefore we look favorably on projects that demonstrate new technologies, or are well-run and well-publicized, or which make it clear that a sensible financial return is possible.

The L.P. Gill landfill has attracted considerable attention in the local press. Recent highlights include a 25th year celebration and volunteer clean-up day, in addition to coverage of the launch of the landfill gas-to-energy project. In addition, Leonard Gill was awarded the W. Edwards Deming Entrepreneurial Excellence Award by the Chamber of Commerce of Sioux City, IA. L.P. Gill was named Recycler of the Year in 2004 by Keep Nebraska Beautiful and received the Developer of the Year award for Dakota County Nebraska in 1995. Leonard Gill is on the Board of Directors for Briar Cliff University located in Sioux City, IA and Wayne State/Northeast Community College in Nebraska. We’re proud to work with leaders like Leonard and help them demonstrate that smaller landfills can make big environmental improvements and provide energy to local industry.