Bonus: World’s Largest Landfill Gas Recuperation PlantPuente Hills in Whittier, Calif.
Producing power from the gas that seeps out of landfills is a better alternative than simply flaring it. (Though it’s debatable whether or not landfill gas constitutes a renewable resource, because yields of combustible gas from landfills decline between 2 and 15 percent per year after a landfill is capped and no more garbage is being added, according to Jeff Pierce, vice president of power plant development company SCS energy). Landfill gas is about half methane and half carbon dioxide and also contains water vapor, which makes it more difficult to handle than conventional natural gas.
The world’s largest landfill gas plant sits atop the Puente Hills landfill—the largest in the U.S.—which accepts trash from Los Angeles County. Pierce says that because this active landfill is still growing, production at the 20 year old Puente Hills landfill gas plant has not yet peaked, and averages about 50 megawatts.
Another 50-megawatt landfill gas plant sits atop another gigantic dump in Incheon, South Korea. Currently there are no plans for units larger than either the Puente Hills or Incheon facilities.