Has anyone seen or heard of other countries that use methane as fuel?

Question

They use the methane that is naturally produced in garbage dumps/landfills to run the entire place. They have special systems that use methane gas. What do you think of this idea?

Answer 1

Methane can be collected from landfills, sewage, and coal mines but the efficiency of using it depends on the specific source. Landfills and coal mines will vary in the amount and mixture of gases they discharge. But for a large enough source it can be used efficiently.

Answer 2

Many less developed countries use methane as fuel but not in the form we think of. I am sure you have seen on TV where people use dried cow chips (or any other animal chips) to fuel fire. Well, guess what is causing it to burn. That's right, it's methane.
I have read that there are ethanol plants near farms that utilize methane from cows' waste as energy source. I would think collecting methane from landfills would be more difficult than collection cow excrement and probably lot more costly but possible.

Answer 3

My brother used to work in a small generating plant built over a closed landfill. It used methane collected from the landfill with pipes buried in the ground to fire the generator. This was at least 20 years ago in southern California. So the U.S. is a country that does that and it is not a new idea.

Answer 4

We used to mix methane with gasoline and it really messed up engines! And it was very dirty and polluting. Skip the methane, go with hydrogen fuels they are cleaner, more plentiful and they wave of the future.

Answer 5

we have some of those methane burning plants here in the states some in california some in nevada and there right next to land fills too

Answer 6

its funny you asked that i just watched an episode of dirty jobs about that, i think they were in san fransisco