Reduction of methane emissions from biogas systems and landfills

Biogas, or biomethane, produced at anaerobic digestion plants and extracted from municipal solid waste landfills, is an important renewable energy source that can substitute fossil fuels. When using it for generating electricity, heat or and used as a transport fuel it contributes to climate change mitigation. It thus prevents the addition of fossil carbon, stored in the underground, to the atmosphere.

However, methane has a high global warming potential and should be prevented from being emitted to the atmosphere.

The report “Reduction of methane emissions from biogas systems and landfills – Methane oxidation treatment for system with low gas fluxes and ow methane concentrations” presents several process technologies for methane oxidation that can convert waste gases with low methane concentrations emitted at low flow rates. The reports present also several real-world applications of these technologies. This report is drafted by Task 37 (Energy from biogas).

Download the full report  “Reduction of methane emissions from biogas systems and landfills”

Methane is emitted from a wide range of industrial, agricultural and waste management processes. Capture and treatment of emissions are sometimes technically challenging, and in the context of current market conditions, also economically challenging, in particular in the case of waste gas streams with low methane content and low volumetric flowrates.

At biogas systems and municipal solid waste landfills, such waste gas streams exists:

• Anaerobic digestion and biogas utilization (biogas plants)
• feedstock (including manure) handling and storage,
• off gases of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units,
• off gases from biogas upgrading,
• open and non-gas tight digestate storage,
• Processes related to biogas plants such as digestate composting, organic waste handling, etc.;
• Landfills
• landfill gas that is highly diluted with air due to leaks in gas collection or increasing air content in older, closed landfills.