EcoFactor: Alternative energy obtained from landfills.

Anybody with the slightest amount of common sense would know that landfills aren’t entirely bad as people consider them to be. They mostly are grounds with a high potential for useful energy. Why, you may ask? Well, because these dumped components most of the times result in creation of methane gas and cellulosic biofuel, both giving us an economically viable alternative.

Cellulosic ethanol is the kind that comes from cellulose instead of sugar. Most plants don’t have a lot of sugar, but all plants have lots of cellulose. So, instead of using food crops (like corn and sugar cane, which have lots of sugar) to create fuel, we can get this from grass trimmings, fallen tree branches or corn stalks (instead of corn ears) to create ethanol, which helps generate biofuel. These biofuels yield more energy, produce less greenhouse gases, and have less impact on the environment than other alternatives to gasoline, such as corn ethanol.

Landfills are also known to produce leachate, a liquid that oozes out of rotting material. So the Waste Recycling Group (WRG) has come up with an ingenious plan to construct two 18-foot-deep tarns near landfills to produce fertilizer from the leachate that oozes from the trash piles. Thus it’s proven that landfills are grounds with high potential alternatives if used smartly.

The Dark Side:
I agree that a non-composting landfill is a good thing and the initiative by the WRG developers is commendable. But having your landfill decompose and build up pockets of methane makes it more unstable and more combustible. I would certainly want my decomposable waste going to a municipal thrash guy who will manage it as compost, not as a landfill.

Via: Treehugger332660