Landfill Gas Recovery and Management

Landfills are the recipients of solid wastes, which upon decomposition release equal amounts of methane and carbon dioxide. By capturing the methane, we can convert landfill waste into a renewable energy resource. Landfill gas methane can be used to generate electricity and heat buildings or cleaned to generate renewable natural gas (after carbon dioxide separation). Capturing emitted methane, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere, is an effective means of mitigating global climate change.  

Our Waste Management team has developed tools and procedures to assess the potential for methane capture, collection and treatment from existing landfills and to evaluate the economic feasiblity of such activities. We have participated in several assessments of landfill gas capture and collection in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

Bioreactor technology is one of the leading forms in alternative landfill technology. This technology stabilizes landfills in a shorter period of time and leads to active capture and collection of landfill gas. The result is a significant decrease in methane emission potential.

We have designed, built and tested both pilot and operational bioreactor facilities in Alberta. We have expertise in optimizing bioreactor performance – under extreme conditions of temperature and moisture regimes – through leachate recirculation. These activities lower the cost of landfill management by reducing monitoring and leachate treatment costs and by increasing the production and collection of landfill gas. 

We also have expertise in sampling and measuring emitted gases from landfills. Through these measurements, we can quantify methane and carbon dioxide emissions for potential carbon credits and greenhouse gas reductions. Actual measurements are augmented with theoretical estimates (through modeling) of potential emissions.