I see garbage dumps with flames coming out of them. Why cant we use this gas for heating houses?

Answer 1

Methane is a fairly clean burning fuel but the smell detracts from household use. It is also difficult to transfer via pipeline from a dump because it is at a very low pressure. Newer technologies use the methane gas to operate fairly small, local power generating staions that provide power to the landfill and some surrounding properties.

Answer 2

what we do is 1.) ferment some biodegradable waste, like straw to produce methane - ok, but - danger - it is explosive.
2. far better: burn the collected waste in incinerator- and use the heat (central heating and hot water) for heating apartment houses and offices - works well for densely populated areas where u dont transport the hot water long distances

there are clear advantages of incineration over landfiling: less space needed in landfil and you do not have the useless escape of landfill gasses (mainly methane and carbon dioxide) that contribute to greenhouse effect, instead of this u use the energy of the waste so the produce of carbon dioxide is not just in vain, simply u turn the cycle one more time. you can better control the emissions from an incinerator than from landfill. best-available-technology exhaust air filters are a must. if u burn wood/coal in your stove to heat up your house or log-cabin in the mountains, u (because u dont have any filter) produce some 1% of dioxins than a waste incinerator over the same period - but the incinerator can handle the waste of a small city and heat up a housing estate with thousands of people, so what is the anti-incineration hysteria of less-educated green activists about?

Answer 3

My brother once worked at a small power plant built on top of a closed landfill. It used gas from the landfill to generate electricity for the power grid. There are hundreds of such plants.

Answer 4

Garbage, from the word itself should not stay inside the house. Especially it's products, that's very hazardous to your health.

Answer 5

the scientist are trying to make use of it but until now still no cheap method to extract the gas from the garbage.and the gas created by garbage is called methane.

Answer 6

The gasses emitted from the dump are probably too volatile from spray paints, cleaning products and other petroleum based products.

Answer 7

You would have to come up with some kind of way to harness this energy and distribute it to houses, which is possible, if not practical.

Answer 8

'Cause you just rarely see houses in garbage dumps.

Answer 9

We can, but it would not be allowed, for the great god oil has spoken.

Answer 10

do you realize what your house would smell like if you did that?