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The Future of Landfill Gas & Biogas

Biomethane has big potential says award winner Biomethane can provide over one sixth of all UK residential heat by 2020 and vehicle fuel. Rapid development of Biomethane to Grid is necessary and for carbon offsetting, biomethane vehicle fuel presents the best of all potential biogas uses. It can meet the required increase in renewable electricity, heat and fuel production to achieve the 15 percent renewable energy target set by the European Union for 2020. However, UK regulatory and financial barriers need to be overcome and the UK can learn from substantial progress made in Sweden, Germany and Denmark. So says the winner of the 2010 CIWM Geotech Bursary, Russell Harwood, in his paper presented at the CIWM Professional Awards in October 2010. The award is open to all and offers a £1500 bursary to the winner with the best proposal for a paper entitled: The Future Roles of Landfill Gas and Biogas. Entry deadline: 1st March 2011, details from: www.ciwm.co.uk Harwood considers that landfill gas combustion using spark ignition engines will continue to play a key role in the renewable energy mix up to 2020. In the future, he suggests, microturbines can succeed spark ignition engines, at landfills with low methane gas concentrations, to extend gas extraction lifetime. According to Harwood, generating hydrogen from landfill gas and biogas for direct use in fuel cells is still commercially undeveloped. However he says it is expected to become more commercially viable within the ...