This week, we visited the Sao Joao landfill in the state of Sao Paulo. This landfill has multiple sites that are operated by different companies and each is in a different phase of construction. The southeast section of the landfill is newer, run by EcoUrbis and is still accepting trash deposits. It is also not collecting methane to create energy, but merely burning it so that it is not releasing it into the environment.
EcoUrbis Landfill Methane Burning Site (right) & Testing Methane Well (left)
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| Crane working on depositing new trash |
The actual Sao Joao landfill is run by Biogas and is older and filled to capacity. This section of the landfill is purely a methane collection site that turns the methane into power. This plant collects methane from the multiple levels of the landfill and burns it to create electricity to put into the grid. It has not currently generated the amount of money it cost to implement the system along with running/maintenance costs. This type of energy generation is very environmentally friendly and the fuel it uses is endless (because humans will always be creating waste), but it has high capital costs for a low amount of power in return. The way that Biogas has been making money is by selling its carbon credits for the site to other companies. These high costs with little to no return is the reason why the other portion of the landfill is not currently creating energy with the released methane. This is also the reason why this technology is not that widely spread in other areas of the country and the world.
There are several other reasons why this technology is not used in the US very much. Brazil is known for its rich trash. The majority of what Brazilians throw away is organic material that can biodegrade and release methane. The US, on the other hand, throws away a very large amount of plastic, styrofoam and other packaging materials that cannot breakdown in the same manner, thus not releasing as much methane, which would create less power. Furthermore, this type of energy is not reliable. Every day the makeup of the gases released is different, so the amount of methane that is able to be burned fluctuates.
Like we have learned throughout our studies thus far, no matter how brilliant a renewable energy technology is, if it is not economically beneficial to someone, it is not going to work in the long run. Human nature and modern society is completely centered around making money and profits, thus we will continue our nonrenewable habits until there is some economic incentive to using renewable solutions.
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Methane Burning Machine
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| Leachate Collection Lagoon |
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| They recycle at the dump! |
Also, it was really cold, miserable and early the day we visited the plant. No one was very happy about it....
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