Flathead Electric Cooperative Landfill Gas-To-Energy-Project

3Degrees managed project

The Flathead County Landfill, located in Northwest Montana, roughly 30 miles outside of Glacier National Park, is turning a harmful landfill byproduct into energy. In 2009 the landfill collaborated with the Flathead Electric Cooperative to build the first methane gas-to-energy project in the state. This project, previously used a flare to burn the emitted methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25x more potent that carbon dioxide. With this upgrade, the facility now uses a vacuum system to extract the methane from the waste within the landfill.

The system captures and filters the gas to remove liquid and particulates, then burns it in a 20-cylinder engine. Burning methane drives the 1.6 MW electric generator, which is connected directly to Flathead Electric’s distribution system. The utility is able to use the electricity generated from this project to service its customers – roughly 1,600 households.

The project has an estimated 15-year lifespan. Currently, the landfill only uses a portion of the 150 acres permitted for waste acceptance. With room to expand, facility managers may add wells and a second generator gas flow increases. 3Degrees manages the monitoring, reporting, and verification of this project. As part of the project management and services agreement, 3Degrees also has exclusive ownership of the project’s carbon offset credits.

CO-BENEFITS:

Environmental:

The Flathead Electric Cooperative Landfill Gas-To-Energy Project drastically reduces local greenhouse gas emissions.

Health:

A reduction in indoor air pollution from the switch has improved working conditions for factory employees.

Economic:

The Flathead Valley community benefited from the construction and continued operations and maintenance jobs related to the project.

Link to a virtual tour of the Gas-To-Energy project.

Flathead County Landfill, located in Northwest Montana. Photo courtesy of www.terrapass.com.

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China wind energy displaces coal-fired power and reduces GHG emissions

In the past several years, China has seen remarkable growth in the installation of renewable energy projects. In 2020 alone, the country more than doubled its construction of new wind and solar power plants from the previous year. To help fund the construction and ongoing maintenance of many of these projects and make progress towards decommissioning the country’s heavily polluting coal-fired power plants, developers often rely on revenue from the sale of carbon credits where projects are proven to be additional or beyond business as usual. 

The Hebei Guyuan Wind Farm located in the North China Plain is an example of one of these projects. The project consists of 133 wind turbines with a capacity of 199.5 MW. The project uses wind resources to supply clean, renewable electricity to the grid North China Power Grid (NCPG). The electricity generated from this project displaces part of the electricity from the NCPG which is predominantly generated by coal-fired power plants which are pervasive in the region. 

CO-BENEFITS:

Environmental:

Energy from the project displaces the electricity generated from fossil fuel-fired power plants connected to the NCPG. Replacing fossil fuel combustion with wind power significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Health:

Using wind energy avoids harmful pollutants from fossil fuel combustion, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. The project greatly improves air quality in the surrounding area. 

Economic:

The project construction and ongoing project maintenance creates job opportunities for local people which helps to stimulate economic growth in the region. New renewable energy capacity will add to the sustainable development of this region, as the project plans to utilize domestic-made, state-of-the-art wind turbines to promote turbine manufacturing industries in the Hebei Province. 

Photo courtesy of https://www.xinhuanet.com/ Registry ID: Verra 903 Link: https://registry.verra.org/app/projectDetail/VCS/903

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