Landfill gas is a mix of methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is a flammable toxic greenhouse gas twenty times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide. Instead of going into the atmosphere and becoming a greenhouse gas which is harmful to the environment, it can be collected in every landfill and used to produce renewable energy. Veolia's extensive knowledge and expertise include:
The generation and recycling of landfill gas are major components in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Landfills which are equipped with Veolia s gas collection and treatment systems have seen their waste storage increased by 20% in the last 5 years.
Important renewable energy
Landfill gas is the prime greenhouse gas reduction project of Veolia s environmental services. The waste storage of the landfills equipped with Veolia gas collection and treatment systems have increased by 20% in the past 5 years.
Kyoto Protocol: Veolia Environmental Services partnered with CDM
Veolia has been part of the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) before the Kyoto Protocol ever came into effect back in 2001. Veolia promotes CDM projects worldwide, including in China, in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol.
Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
Veolia is continuously reducing and preventing the emission of greenhouse gases by:
Installing active landfill gas collection and treatment systems that have reduced emissions equivalent to 8.4 million tons of carbon dioxide.
Adopting landfill gas as fuel to generate electricity and heat. For example, in the American State of Pennsylvania, landfill gas is processed like standard pipeline-gas and then injected into interstate natural gas pipelines. The resulting energy (equivalent to 40 MW of electricity) is sufficient to meet the needs of 45,000 households.
In 2007, the waste landfill gas electricity plant of Jiangcungou in Xi an, the waste landfill gas electricity plant of Shuige in Nanjing, the waste landfill gas electricity plant of Datianshan in Guangzhou, the waste landfill gas electricity plant of Xingfeng in Guangzhou and the waste landfill gas electricity plant of Tianziling in Hangzhou, which are operated by Veolia Environmental Services, are respectively ranked number 1, 2, 4, 6 and 9 in the Blue Sky Chart of Top 10 Waste Landfill Gas Electricity Plants organized together by the United Nations and the National Development and Reform Commission of China.
