Landfill gas is produced in landfills by the decomposition of organic materials. The primary components of LFG are methane (50%) and carbon dioxide (48%). This gas is a product of the decomposition of organic materials in the landfill. Landfill gas is a threat to human health and global warming. Energy projects do reduce reduce these impacts, but landfill gas is not truly renewable – although it can produce energy which will reduce the need to burn fossiliferous fuels.

Landfill gas is a hazard if methane reaches levels high enough to cause an explosion or a fire. If you suspect that landfill gas is in your home, ventilate your home and basement with fresh air to decrease the level of methane.

It is the anaerobic decomposition of organic wastes that produces landfill gas. It is produced when microorganisms in a landfill break down biodegradable waste, such as food waste and paper. In its composition, landfill gas varies with the characteristics of the waste, age of a landfill, weather conditions, and other factors. The gas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, and it is the methane content within it that makes it a prized fuel source.

Landfill gas (LFG) can be a relatively inexpensive resource, especially if local environmental regulations require the gas to be extracted and flared anyway. that can help lower the cost of green power when combined with solar and wind energy. As each developed nation switch to green power gets under way, electricity from landfill gas will be expected provide the largest proportion of its green power after wind and hydropower.

Another way to create electricity from rubbish is to utilize landfill gas. All airless compressed solid waste creates methane gas which can be trapped, piped to a small plant and burnt to turn a turbine or internal combustion engine and create electricity. Thankfully, landfill gas is a low-pollution fuel with respect to emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons and volatile organic emissions. In fact, it has been claimed that LFG nitrogen oxide emissions are generally about 70 percent lower than those of natural gas combustion due to the low flame temperature that results from the burning of landfill gas.

LFG is fired in the plant's boilers producing superheated steam. The superheated steam is used to drive the steam turbine/generator to generate electric power. Landfill gas is collected, or "extracted" from landfills by drilling "wells" into the landfills, and collecting the gases through pipes. Once the landfill gas is processed, it can be combined with natural gas to fuel conventional combustion turbines or used very efficiently to fuel small combustion or combined cycle turbines. In fact, LFG users are one of the top users of renewable energy in the manufacturing sector in North America.

Now, we would just like to say here that there is a misconception that a landfill gas filling station is a landfill gas hydrogen filling station. This is not true there is no such thing as a landfill gas hydrogen filling station. Landfill gas comprises methane and not hydrogen.

The gas is composed of approximately 50% methane with the remaining constituents consisting primarily of carbon dioxide along with oxygen, nitrogen and other volatile organic gases. Landfill gas is hazardous for three key reasons. Landfill gas becomes explosive when it escapes from the landfill and mixes with oxygen, it can replace oxygen in the air in confined spaces to cause asphyxiation, and it can cause fires.

Landfill gas is, with biogas from anaerobic digestion, the only energy source that, when used, actually removes pollution from the atmosphere. Another advantage of LFG is is that it is an extremely reliable source of energy because it is generated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Not like wind turbines which produce no energy at all on still air days. In using gas to produce energy at landfills, we can significantly reduce the emission of methane from these sites and avoid the need to use many tonnes of fossil fuels otherwise needed to generate electricity.

Companies like Waste Management Inc. are be ahead of the curve because they already have plants like this in operation, creating lucrative revenue. Waste Management currently has two landfill gas-to-electric plants at TREE producing green power for over 9,000 homes which will continue to operate, while excess gas will be sent to UNH’s new and innovative renewable energy project.

Methane, a primary component of landfill gas, is a greenhouse gas more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Nationwide, approximately 435 projects harness landfill gas to produce renewable energy.

In many applications, landfill gas can be substituted for natural gas either as a direct source of energy or as a fuel for electric generation.

Landfill gas is essentially the same as Biogas production from anaerobic digestion, which is a popular process for treating biodegradable waste because valuable fuel can be produced, while destroying disease-causing pathogens and reducing the volume of disposed waste products. It burns more cleanly than coal , and emits less carbon dioxide per unit of energy.

Combustion of landfill gas converts methane to carbon dioxide and water vapor. Given that methane's global warming potential is 23 times that of carbon dioxide by weight, this conversion results in a significant positive benefit to the global atmosphere. Combustion of methane at high enough temperatures destroys NMOCs and thus gas flares need to run sufficiently hot and with required dwell times at the temperature. Under the regulations, landfill owner/operators can either flare landfill gas or capture and use the gas as a renewable energy resource. Combustion gases from each EfW engine should exit the building through a silencer-equipped exhaust stack approximately 20 feet above ground surface. The lowest cost EfW projects will now be those that use existing overhead transmission lines to transfer power from the site to the power grid.

Companies and municipalities alike are realizing the great potential for energy within their reach with LFG. Is your company aware that landfilled garbage produces a naturally occurring gas that can be used to displace conventional fossil fuels?