The Benefits of Landfill Methane
Landfills are a major source of methane, a particularly dirty greenhouse gas that is created from the anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste in landfills. Methane gas can be captured and used to generate electricity, which minimizes methane emissions and replaces conventional electricity-generating technologies such as coal and natural gas.
Market Readiness And Available Technology
The technology is mature and market-ready. Landfill gas can be extracted from landfills using wells and a blower/flare system. The system transports the gas to a central point where it can be processed and treated according to the ultimate use for the gas. Landfill gas can be used to generate electricity through different processes like reciprocating internal combustion engines, fuel cells, turbines, microturbines, and cogeneration. The electricity generated can be used on-site or sold to the grid.
Landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) technology has advanced significantly in recent years, improving methane capture efficiency and energy conversion rates. Modern gas collection systems can now recover up to 85% of methane emissions from landfills, compared to earlier systems that often captured less than 50%. Newer high-efficiency gas turbines and internal combustion engines allow for more effective conversion of captured methane into electricity, increasing the overall viability of LFGTE projects.
Landfill Methane has been in use for decades, and there are ample sites that are candidates in the United States and Georgia for potential implementation of this technology. Given the high global warming potential of methane (34 CO2-e), opportunities to capture methane can produce significant carbon emissions reductions.
Landfill Methane as a Climate Solution in Georgia
The Drawdown Georgia research team estimates that Georgia could reduce emissions by one megaton (Mt) of CO2e by adding 16 additional 25-MW combined heat and power plants generating electricity with waste heat from industrial processes.
What is the Carbon Emissions Reduction Potential by 2030?
Achievable reduction potential is derived by taking the technical reduction potential, outlined below, and developing a more realistic forecast that takes current rates of deployment, market constraints, and other barriers into consideration.
For landfill methane, the Drawdown Georgia research team has calculated the achievable reduction potential to be 0.98 Mt of CO2e.
What Is the Upper Limit of Carbon Emissions Reduction Potential?
Technical reduction potential reflects the upper limit of emissions reductions for this solution without regards to the constraints that exist in the real world, such as economic or political considerations.
For landfill methane, the Drawdown Georgia research team has calculated the technical reduction potential to be 1.5 Mt.
Progress on Landfill Methane in Georgia
The distribution of landfill gas electricity generation across Georgia is highly uneven, with only a few counties producing significant amounts while most have little to no generation. This disparity is reflected in the median value of 0.00 MW per 100,000 people, compared to a much higher mean of 0.75 MW. This indicates that a small number of counties with large landfill gas projects significantly raise the state average.
The highest levels of landfill gas electricity generation are concentrated in select counties, with notable projects in Metro Atlanta and parts of central and southwestern Georgia. Most rural counties lack landfill gas infrastructure, highlighting the localized nature of this energy solution.
Landfill gas (LFG) projects follow a similar pattern to LFG generation but with some key differences. While areas with high LFG use often match the generation map, project intensity doesn’t always lead to high electricity output. For example, some counties in northwestern Georgia have moderate LFG activity but don’t generate high MW levels.
Challenges in Scaling Landfill Methane
The future of landfill gas electricity generation in Georgia faces several challenges, including economic viability, environmental concerns, and shifting market trends. As the cost of solar and battery storage continues to fall, landfill gas becomes less competitive. However, it remains a valuable renewable resource that can provide stable electricity when solar and wind energy are intermittent.
While landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) projects help reduce methane emissions, they do not address broader environmental justice concerns, as many landfills are located in disadvantaged communities that bear disproportionate pollution burdens.
Stricter air quality regulations could further impact the feasibility of expanding LFGTE projects.
Additionally, the growing focus on renewable natural gas (RNG), where methane is processed and injected into pipelines rather than used for electricity generation, may divert investment away from landfill gas power plants. Since RNG projects often receive stronger financial incentives, they could reduce the availability of landfill gas for direct electricity generation in the state.
How Reliable Is Our Estimate For This Drawdown Georgia Climate Solution?
The greenhouse gas reduction potential is high. Based on data from the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program, 26 landfills in Georgia are categorized as "Future Potential" or "Candidate" for landfill gas-to-energy retrofitting. Preliminary analysis based on this data indicates that a typical 5 MW retrofit at each facility could abate approximately 0.25 Mt of carbon emissions annually per facility. Retrofitting just 4 of the 26 landfills could abate 1 Mt CO2-e annually.
Cost Competitiveness
This is a potentially cost-effective solution, based on global Project Drawdown® estimates and EPA data. Review of other literature indicates mixed results on cost-effectiveness, especially in the absence of a carbon tax. Preliminary analysis, for example, suggests that the 6.3 MW Georgia Landfill Gas Oak Grove Plant produces electricity at a LCOE of 9.6 cents per kWh.
Beyond Carbon Attributes
Reducing methane emissions by “capping off” landfills creates social benefit via improved air quality in neighborhoods surrounding landfills. Additionally, the utilization of landfill methane for electricity generation can offer an offset to the use of non-renewable sources.
The capture and use of methane for electricity generation also helps mitigate the possible health risks associated with the release of other air pollutants and volatile organic compounds that are present at low concentrations in uncontrolled LFG.
Landfill methane energy projects provide a source of revenue from the sale of captured gas and can create local jobs associated with the design, construction, and operation of energy recovery systems. The Lanchester Landfill in Pennsylvania, for example, created over 100 temporary construction jobs, while an LFG project in Virginia resulted in 22,000 hotel stays for project workers. Additionally, waste management and landfill businesses stand to benefit from the expansion of this solution by reducing their environmental compliance costs that the Clean Air Act mandates.
While landfill gas projects help mitigate methane emissions and contribute to Georgia’s renewable energy portfolio, their economic benefits—such as revenue from electricity sales or carbon credits—are not always equitably distributed. Many local residents in high-LFG-producing counties do not directly benefit from lower electricity prices or energy security improvements, reinforcing existing socio-economic inequalities.
Expanding community-driven landfill gas projects, implementing revenue-sharing programs, and ensuring that a portion of LFG-derived energy profits support local infrastructure and public services could help balance the social and environmental impacts of landfill gas electricity generation in Georgia.
The Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient of 0.98 underscore the extreme inequality in landfill gas electricity generation across Georgia, with a few counties producing nearly all of the state's LFG-based electricity.
