Abstract
With traditional natural gas being one of the top options for heating in the United States and the present threat of climate change, there is a demand for an alternative clean fuel source. A Renewable Natural Gas Implementation Decision-Making Conceptual Model was created to provide a framework for considering the feasibility of renewable natural gas (RNG) projects and applied to New Jersey, specifically investigating landfills and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Data from the US EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Sewage Sludge databases were used to identify seven landfills and 22 WWTPs as possible locations for RNG projects. Landfills were found to have a higher potential for producing RNG, on average potentially producing enough RNG to heat 12,792 homes per year versus 1227 for the average WWTP. Additionally, landfills, while having higher capital expenses, have lower projected payback periods, averaging 5.19 years compared to WWTP’s 11.78 years. WWTPs, however, generally are located closer to existing natural gas pipelines than landfills and when they produce more than 362 million standard cubic feet per year (MMSCFY) of biogas are financially feasible. RNG projects at Monmouth County Reclamation Center, Ocean County Landfill, and Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission WWTP show the greatest potential. Greenhouse gas emission reductions from RNG projects at these facilities utilizing all available biogas would be 1.628 million metric tons CO2 equivalents per year, synonymous to removing over 351,000 passenger vehicles from the road each year. In addition, expanding federal and state incentives to encompass RNG as a heating fuel is necessary to reduce financial barriers to RNG projects throughout the US. Overall, this paper supports the hypothesized conceptual model in examining the feasibility of RNG projects through examples from New Jersey and confirms the potential for RNG production utilizing existing waste streams.
Highlights
Introduction distributed under the terms andRapidly increasing populations are causing a high demand for the energy supply for industrial operations, transportation, and personal use
To make sure a landfill can be a viable source of landfill gas (LFG) and in turn renewable natural gas (RNG), the landfill has to meet all of the following criteria: contain at least 1 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), have a depth of 50 feet or more, receive at least 25 inches of rain annually, be currently open or have been closed for less than three years, and have a biogas flow rate of over 1000 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM) [12]
We found that there are currently seven landfills in New Jersey that meet the criteria for renewable natural gas (RNG) projects
Summary
Increasing populations are causing a high demand for the energy supply for industrial operations, transportation, and personal use. Natural gas has historically been a big sector of energy consumption in the United States, with the country responsible for over 21% of global natural gas consumption [1]. In 90 years, conditions of the Creative Commons. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1618 the natural gas supply in America may be entirely depleted [2]. The introduction of renewable natural gas (RNG) can be substituted as a low carbon energy source to reduce the dependence on traditional natural gas. RNG and fossil fuels emit similar amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but different production processes result in an overall
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