biogas

All landfill trash decomposes over time and releases methane, a greenhouse gas, into the air. At landfills across the county, new technology is being developed to capture that gas, treat it and send it where it can be used as fuel. At Three Rivers Landfill in South Carolina, landfill gas travels 17 miles through a pipeline to Kimberly Clark"s Beech Island facility, where it helps to power the manufacturing plant.

The Santa Fe Biogas project, in its initial stages, was simply a long list of concerns communicated in Women’s Group meetings: “How can we avoid buying expensive tanks of gas and inhaling smoke in the kitchen?”

Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. It is comprised primarily of methane and carbon dioxide. It can be combusted with oxygen and the energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel. Considered a renewable fuel and electricity produced from it can be used to attract renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world.

Jan-Eric Sundgren, Senior VP of Environmental Public Affairs, Volvo Group, describes Volvo's development of seven new models of trucks which run on various forms of alternative fuels.

This is an environmental blog. The title story deals with the use of human waste to generate biogas which is used as fuel.

"The ethanol boom of recent years — which spurred a frenzy of distillery construction, record corn prices, rising food prices and hopes of a new future for rural America — may be fading."

In conjunction with The Climate Trust, NW Natural from Oregon is now offering its clients carbon offsets by investing in methane capture systems.