Write an evaluation of the technological change of acquiring gas from landfills for use as a fuel

The Use of Landfill Gas As Alternative Energy : Technological Change and Its Impacts

The current energy crisis from non-renewable sources like oil has led to a lot of efforts toward finding alternative sources . Technological change has been able to provide support for this endeavor . Still , every new innovation faces environmental , social and economic implications This would like to look into one of these alternative sources of energy- alternative energy source from landfill . We hope to explain how this has been effected by technological change , briefly discuss the procedures for its realization

, its impacts on the society in its various aspects , and provide a conclusion that provides analytical propositions

According to Jill Bailey , landfill gas is gas generated by the anaerobic decomposition of solid waste in landfill sites

It is a mixture of gases , including odorous organic sulfur compounds and contains significant amounts of methane . If the methane concentration exceeds a concentration in air of five percent , it poses a risk of explosion , so landfill gas is usually actively or passively vented , or siphoned off for use in combined heat and power plants (Jill , 2003

What are the processes involved in turning landfill gas as an alternative energy The technology behind these systems is simple . Once the landfill is capped , a vacuum sucks landfill gases -predominantly carbon dioxide and methane-into a recovery plant where they are first washed with water to eliminate large particles . The gases are compressed and cooled to remove the water before being transferred to another chamber that extracts the malodorous compounds . The cleaned gas is funneled into a series of chambers containing compounds that bind carbon dioxide molecules . In most existing plants , the carbon dioxide is burned off in new plants , however , it will likely be liquefied and sold to make dry ice and other industrial substances . The pure methane can be sold to utility companies or pumped directly to homes (Sinha , 1998

Solid wastes is one of the predominant issues in the world today along with economic crisis . It is quite interesting that a nexus between two problems provide solutions for each other- the production of energy source on the one hand , and recycling wastes on the other

What exactly are landfills ? In William and Little 's definition , it is a means of disposing solid wastes by compacting them and burying them in the earth , widely used by municipalities throughout the world

Wastes going to a sanitary landfill should first be sorted to remove recyclable materials and hazardous substances , both of which should be disposed of elsewhere . At the landfill , the wastes are spread in an even , two-foot-thick layer down a sloping surface called the working face ( maximum slope : 30 : when this layer is completed , heavy machinery is run over it to crush it and compact it to a thickness of about 6 inches . The compacted material then forms the next working face . At the end of each day 's work , the compacted wastes are covered with 6 inches of compacted soil , the surface of...