The Promise and Realities of Biogas Produced from Landfills and Farm Waste

Abstract

Full realization of the potential of converting landfill gas (LFG)
and farm manure to biogas and LFG could, together, significantly
supplement our national supply of natural gas. Another advantage of
these sources is that they tend to be located near end users and may
be considered analogous in some respects to distributed generation
because the gas they provide does not have to be transported long
distances. There are many ways to generate electricity and few ways
to produce biogas. Unfortunately, factors such as constantly changing
natural gas prices, the relatively small size of individual projects from
a financing prospective, the fact that historic technology for converting
animal waste did not always perform properly and the “comfort level”
of gas sellers in remaining with existing natural gas supplies have seri-
ously hindered the development of these sources. Federal and state tax
benefits and incentive programs (such as the federal stimulus) offer the
promise of increased development of these important domestic energy
resources and available technology provides the possibility of realizing
these domestic energy resources and contributing to gas price stability
and domestic energy security.