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From Landfill to RNG: New Rover Regional Landfall Turns Trash Into Natural Gas
The New River Regional Landfill consists of an active 99-acre lined Class I Landfill and supporting infrastructure. Photo source: NRSWA
By Thomas Ehlers, Staff Writer
If you scour Florida’s nearly 66,000 square miles, you won’t find anything like the New River Regional Landfill facility.
That’s because it's the first and only landfill gas to renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in the Sunshine State.
The facility opened on Jan. 5 in Raiford, and it converts methane from the New River Solid Waste Association’s (NRSWA) municipal solid waste landfill into RNG, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 35,000 tons per year. The facility will be able to extract 2,500 standard cubic feet per minute of landfill gas and produce 5.1 million gas gallon equivalents per year at full capacity.
This groundbreaking facility hopes to lessen the effect of fossil fuels by reducing the impact of local emissions while providing an alternative fuel source for the automobile and trucking industries, both contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. It serves as the first facility to interconnect to the Florida Gas Transmission’s pipeline with landfill gas, which speaks to the facility’s high-quality output as the pipeline requires strict pipeline-gas specifications.
We’re taking something that would normally just be of no use to anyone or a problem and we’re converting it into RNG, which can be used for any number of things... -N RSWA Assistant Director Joel Woolsey
“Anything natural gas can be used for, RNG can be used for, and in particular our project, that RNG is being directed to fuel heavy, Class A vehicles.”
A Different Way To Burn
RNG, also known as biomethane, is a pipeline-quality biogas that has been processed to remove impurities like water, carbon dioxide and other elements. The New River Regional Landfill facility takes methane gas from landfills, but methane can be refined from other means, including wastewater treatment, livestock operations, lignocellulosic material and other industrial or commercial sources to produce RNG.
Across the country, 82 different landfill projects produced RNG in 2022, according to statistics from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), while 109 agricultural projects produced biofuel.
The first of its kind in Florida, the New River facility uses activated carbon to remove hydrogen sulfide, harnessing membrane technology in vessels to separate the methane from carbon dioxide as pressurized gas passes through. Other scrubbers and vessels remove other unwanted organic compounds.
The raw methane gas comes from the 100 acres of active landfill on the NRSWA site. NRSWA performs bioreactor operations, where it treats the waste similar to a large compost pile on top of innovative bottom lines. By wetting the waste, bioreactor operations allow garbage to break down faster, producing larger quantities and higher qualities of methane in the process. Generally, methane can be taken six to eight months after placing waste, which the landfill receives at a rate of 1,200 tons per day.
After refining, RNG typically holds a methane concentration over 90%, much higher than its raw concentration of 45% to 65%. Recognized as an advanced biofuel, RNG has applications in transportation fuel as a compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). Additionally, RNG can be used in bioplastics, electrical generation, heating and cooling and other ways.
A Sustainable Solution
The facility’s impact can be measured in its effect on two major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. First, the New River facility harnesses methane gas that would otherwise be sent into the atmosphere. The resulting RNG is used to power a fleet of large vehicles, creating a cycle of sustainable energy that will avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from 380 vehicles.
Not only does refining harness methane, but it also removes other contaminants during the process. Compounds such as arsenic and mercury that would normally return to the atmosphere when burned can be sequestered.
Many lucrative projects aren’t the best for the environment, and in many cases, the reverse is also true. The New River Facility is different in that regard, as this environmentally-friendly facility provides a service that makes money. OPAL Fuels, NRSWA’s partner in the project, operates the facility on leased NRSWA land. The organizations shared recognition as Project of the Year by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Florida Section in 2023.
“We are honored that New River RNG was recognized as Project of the Year.” said David Unger, Executive Vice President, OPAL Fuels. “Developing, constructing, and bringing this facility online was a tremendous cooperative effort and we thank the New River Solid Waste Association, Peoples Gas, and the entire team that made Florida’s first landfill gas to RNG project a reality.”
