Green Energy

One of the environmental mantras today is green energy. I work for a company that targets the use of green, renewable energy to produce electricity. We use landfill gas to generate electricity. The USEPA is all for it. Just how does this work?

The EPA was concerned over methane emissions from landfills. Since they really couldn't regulate methane, they elected to regulate it by regulating potential components of landfill gas that weren't methane. These components are in a group of organic chemicals known as "nonmethane organic chemicals." The EPA calls them "NMOC's".

As an aside, did you ever notice that to make something more popular, scary or important-sounding, we use acronyms instead of the real name? Look at all the drug ads, they use an acronym. Well the EPA does the same thing. NMOC is a word that sounds much scarier than nonmethane organic chemicals. After all, propane, commonly used for heating, is an NMOC. Really scary stuff. The EPA also decided to use units of measure in "megagrams." Again, use a unit of measurement that the average reader isn't sure of and it sounds bigger and badder. A megagram is a metric ton (~2200 lbs).

It is a good idea to capture methane generated from the decomposition of trash and garbage at a landfill. It makes the landfill safer and reduces odors from the landfill. So, could they just regulate the landfill that way? Apparently not. We have to get into the terrors if "megagrams of NMOC's" The landfill, if it is of a certain size must capture the landfill gas and destroy it. The landfill is not required to measure NMOC's, they just have to estimate them from an approved model. (Actually, this is not a bad idea, since the components of landfill gas can change daily as the waste being deposited changes). The normal way to destroy methane is to burn it in a flare. Some emissions testing is required, but testing an open flare (permitted under the regulations) is very difficult to do. The flare does not have to demonstrate the NMOC destruction required of other "control devices."

If you are going to use landfill gas for renewable, useful energy, then the EPA requires that the gas be either processed or the device used meet very stringent requirements for NMOC destruction. They do not require the flare to meet the same standards, they just assume the flare does. So we have the green energy essentially under a different and more stringent set of requirements than doing nothing with the gas but heating the air.

We are all "100% for green energy". Renewable energy is the buzz word. Since it so important, then why are restrictions placed on the use of a renewable resource that is stricter than doing nothing with it? Well, if it were easy to do, then lots of folks in the regulatory end would have to find useful work or invent a new environmental problem, and more folks would be out there doing what everyone says is a great idea.

Want to use renewable energy to generate electricity that is competitive with other forms? Really tough to do. You get to spend extra tax money for this. In some places you get to pay a premium for it. The regulators want to make sure that it is not easy or inexpensive to do.

No good idea shall go unpunished.