Stimulus Watch

• Search for Keywords
• Browse by State/City
• Browse by Program Type

[edit] General Description

The decomposing solid waste in landfills produces Landfill Gas, which is mainly composed of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. The project will capture this landfill gas, and using highly efficient solar-thermal technology, convert the landfill gas into compressed natural gas (CNG) and hydrogen. These environmentally friendly fuels can then be used to operate city vehicles.

SHEC Energy Inc. has constructed and demonstrated a “Dry Fuel Reformation” system to produce hydrogen from methane using heat supplied by sunlight focusing mirrors. The SHEC Energy technology has been engineered to produce renewable electricity at extremely high efficiency and low delivered cost compared to all other solar technologies.

The facility will be a model project that can be replicated by any City or County with a suitable landfill, thus multiplying the environmental and financial benefits by the number of locations in which it will be implemented. Though we initially plan to use CNG to fuel vehicles, the ultimate objective is to convert all of the methane into hydrogen and use the hydrogen in fuel cell vehicles.

[edit] Points in Favor

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is over 21 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Municipal solid waste landfills are the largest human-generated source of methane emissions in the United States. Because methane is both a potent greenhouse gas and has a short atmospheric life of 10 years, capturing methane from landfills is one of the most effective ways to combat global climate change.

In addition to the environmental benefits of the project, it would also reduce the United State's dependence on foreign oil. Municipal solid waste landfills represent a large, untapped source of clean energy. We calculate that if the 1,700 untapped municipal landfills in the U.S. adopted the SHEC Energy technology to produce hydrogen which was used for transportation, this in itself would reduce oil imports by 10%.

To respond to the one point against...It´s very rare to find a commercial alternative energy project that actually works . Many worthwhile projects have been stuck in research mode since private investors insisted on putting money into Madoff type scams for years instead of doing something worthwhile with their cash. Investors have no idea how to make investment decisions...I think this is obvious by what we are seeing in the world today. This tech is proven to scale to commercial levels. What it needs is a cash influx.

[edit] Points Against

This is not an untapped resource. Landfill gas is already burned in micro-turbines and in reciprocating engine generators across the country to generate electricity for the grid. Burn the landfill gas directly. It is much cheaper, and more efficient than converting it to hydrogen first.

This is a research project. There is no mention of proven commercial scalability.

Where are the immediate stimulus gains?

Hydrogen CNG, but just the bad parts. Stick to the CNG plan (or liquefy it into LNG); you'll get a lot more benefit and will not spend as much money.