City of Fort Worth, TX

08/14/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/14/2024 04:38

Agreement advances renewable natural gas facility at landfill

Agreement advances renewable natural gas facility at landfill

Published on August 14, 2024

On Tuesday evening, City Council authorized an agreement to develop a renewable natural gas (RNG) facility at the Southeast Landfill, 6288 Salt Road. The site will be developed by Archaea Energy Services LLC, a bp company.

What is LFG and RNG? Landfill gas (LFG) is a natural byproduct of decomposing organic material at landfills. Like most landfills, the Southeast Landfill releases LFG, which is currently burned off by a flare. LFG commonly consists of methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor and others gases. Once the facility is constructed, LFG will go through a multistep process via specialized equipment to produce pipeline-quality renewable natural gas to be used as energy.

Hereare the benefits: By implementing an RNG facility at the Southeast Landfill, the City will see these benefits:

  • Waste-to-energy from municipal solid waste
  • Reduction of methane emissions
  • Revenue opportunities (RNG sales, renewable identification numbers)

What happens next? The City of Fort Worth and Archaea Energy will now work to execute a service agreement to advance site development. Once the agreement is executed, construction of the facility can begin. Construction is anticipated to take approximately 18-24 months.

"Renewable natural gas is an excellent example of rethinking waste as a resource," said Cody Whittenburg, environmental services director for the City of Fort Worth. "Future revenues from the project can help to create a capital fund to secure a future landfill or other municipal solid waste facilities and provide additional options to support the acquisition and conservation of greenspace or other sustainability efforts, among other potential uses."

Upon completion, the RNG facility could produce up to $5 million annually for the City. The lifecycle of the RNG facility at the Southeast Landfill would be 20-30 years.

Resources: Learn more about RNG:

Photo at top:Archaea Energy RNG facility in Medora, Indiana. Credit BP/Archaea Energy.

Illustration below:Landfill gas processing for energy. Credit U.S. EPA.

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