ALEXANDRIA, VA –
Many organic materials such as food waste, paper, animal, and human waste end up at the landfill. Materials produce biogases that harm the environment when released straight into the atmosphere. Because of this, facilities aim to capture landfill gases. Find out why landfill gases are measured with flow meters and what happens afterward.
Organic Material Collects At Solid Waste Facilities
Operators can measure a large amount of natural gas at landfills due to the number of food scraps and paper waste that accumulates. Using thermal flow meters, experts can tell how much biogas is produced from a landfill. The amount of biogas produced varies by landfill and can change day by day depending on what is coming through.
Decrease Gas Flaring
Much of a landfill’s captured gas is discarded through gas flaring. Rather than releasing gases like methane and sulfur back into the atmosphere, facilities burn biogas which turns it into carbon dioxide. Gas flaring has a less harmful affect on the atmosphere than methane. Still, gas flaring is not ideal.
Increase ROI
Landfills that capture their biogas to reuse as energy receive a return on investment (ROI) from their operations. Repurposing natural gas is better than burning it off. You can use natural gas as electricity to power lights and more. Further, plants with excess natural gas can sell their resources to other companies to use as energy, resulting in even more ROI.
The main reason why landfill gases are measured with flow meters is to prevent a climate change catastrophe. The more methane we release into the atmosphere, the worse our environment becomes. Another great reason to measure biogas is so that it can be repurposed and reused as energy. Industrial plants can sell their excess natural gas to make money in multiple ways.
