Vespene Energy, a biogas renewable energy developer, and Viridi Energy, a full-service renewable natural gas (RNG) platform, have announced the launch of their first joint pilot site with a municipal landfill in Marathon County, Wisconsin. The companies are using highly efficient energy generation equipment to convert the naturally occurring landfill byproduct of methane gas into electricity that powers a variety of on-site uses, including data processing.
According to Vespene Energy co-founder and CEO Adam Wright, the technology solution brings revenue-generating, energy-efficient data centers on site and is immediately deployable and highly scalable. “This enables municipal landfill operators to monetize an otherwise stranded asset while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions quickly and economically,” Wright added.
Viridi Energy CEO Dan Crouse expressed his pride in the immediate environmental benefit that their partnership with Vespene will produce. “This pilot project serves as an important bridge. It will capture and convert the methane produced by the landfill's gas collection and control system while we build our industry-leading RNG facility at this site over the months ahead,” Crouse said. “It is a win for the Marathon County community and for our planet.”
The pilot project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while generating revenue to subsidize Viridi's investment in building a state-of-the-art RNG facility at the landfill. Viridi expects that the RNG facility will produce the equivalent of three million gallons of gasoline annually and be fully operational by the second half of 2024.
The decomposition of landfilled municipal solid waste produces methane and other gases, which Marathon County Landfill collects and flares to high percentage destruction levels per local, state, and federal regulations. However, over 70% of the country's roughly 2,600 municipal landfills do not have a viable use for the methane they produce.
Vespene's unique technology solution enables operators of unregulated landfills to get ahead of pending EPA mandates to reduce methane emissions and provides a revenue stream for regulated landfills rather than simply flaring. The integrated data processing approach provides a near-term revenue stream that serves as a bridge to grid interconnection, where sites can then participate in the EPA's new Renewable Fuel Standard Program pathway for e-RINs.
The pilot project demonstrates the potential of converting landfill waste into renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that U.S. landfills account for 15% of U.S. methane emissions, but a 2019 NASA survey indicates these numbers may be two to three times higher than previously reported.
