San Diego captures the methane at their landfill. On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 10:11 PM, Eric Roberts < ow...@threeravensconsulting.com> wrote:
> > If they were smart, they would capture the methane and use it as a fuel. I > have seen a few municipalities that take their methane from the landfill > and > pipe it in to use as a fuel source...think of all the natural gas they > don't > have to purchase. Previously, they would just burn it off...not sure what > the by-product of burning methane is, but I guess if it is going to get > released anyway, it is better to get some use out of it and not have to use > other resources as a result > > Eric. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jerry Barnes [mailto:critic...@gmail.com] > Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 10:41 PM > To: cf-community > Subject: Ooops! Biodegradeable products release methane which is more > potent > than CO2 as a greenhouse gas > > > Ooops! Biodegradeable products release methane which is more potent than > CO2 > as a greenhouse gas > > Excerpt: > > Research from North Carolina State University shows that so-called > biodegradable products are likely doing more harm than good in landfills, > because they are releasing a powerful greenhouse gas as they break down. > > "Biodegradable materials, such as disposable cups and utensils, are broken > down in landfills by microorganisms that then produce methane," says Dr. > Morton Barlaz, co-author of a paper describing the research and professor > and head of NC State's Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental > Engineering. "Methane can be a valuable energy source when captured, but is > a potent greenhouse gas when released into the atmosphere." > > And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that only > about > 35 percent of municipal solid waste goes to landfills that capture methane > for energy use. EPA estimates that another 34 percent of landfills capture > methane and burn it off on-site, while 31 percent allow the methane to > escape. > > "In other words," Barlaz says, "biodegradable products are not necessarily > more environmentally friendly when disposed in landfills." > > This problem may be exacerbated by the rate at which these man-made > biodegradable materials break down. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) > guidelines call for products marked as "biodegradable" to decompose within > "a reasonably short period of time" after disposal. But such rapid > degradation may actually be environmentally harmful, because federal > regulations do not require landfills that collect methane to install gas > collection systems for at least two years after the waste is buried. If > materials break down and release methane quickly, much of that methane will > likely be emitted before the collection technology is installed. This means > less potential fuel for energy use, and more greenhouse gas emissions. > Read more here: > > http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/05/31/ooops-biodegradeable-products-release- > methane-which-is-more-potent-than-co2-as-a-greenhouse-gas/ > > J > > - > > Ninety percent of politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation. > - > Henry Kissinger > > Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, > go > out and buy some more tunnel. - J > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:338630 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
