The first landfill gas-to-energy project has been completed on the African continent. Funded in part by the city of Durban, South Africa, the nearly $12.9 million facility will produce 10MV of electricity and is expected to serve the eThekwini municipality for the next eight years.
Bisisar Road Landfill, outside Durban
The power from the Bisisar Road, La Mercy and MarianHill landfill sites will help mitigate power shortage issues and reduce the amount of CO2 released by conventional coal-fired power stations.
The South African government has now asked Durban to consult other cities on generating power from landfill gas. Energy Minister Dipuo Peters called the project a benchmark for the future.
As reported by the Times, her department contributed nearly $3 million to the Bisisar project.
“I appeal to the eThekwini Municipality to help other municipalities to do this because you have succeeded. I will tell other departments to come to you,” she said.
Already in green spotlight
The world spotlight has been shining on South Africa recently in the run-up to 2010 FIFA World Cup June 11 – July 11. The host nation has been working hard to burnish its green image in the face of criticism it is not doing enough to reduce its carbon footprint over the course of the tournament. Africa’s first World Cup will reportedly generate 2.75 million tons of carbon emissions. This number takes into account international travel, intercity transport, stadium construction, etc.
A number of local organizations are proposing measures to bring this figure down. One is Promoting Access to Carbon Equity (PACE). According to Anton Cartwright, co-founder of PACE, investment in carbon trading and offsets makes the most sense.
“It would, by my reckoning, cost around R200 million [$26.8 million] to offset the 2010 emissions by investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects,” Cartwright wrote.
“That is a large investment, but it is a fraction of the cost of our cheapest stadium, and you don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to work out that renewable energy is likely to make a longer and more positive contribution to South Africa’s future than many of our stadiums,” he added.
Meanwhile, cities like Durban appear to be doing their part. In the United States, a growing number of landfill gas projects are underway, and many of those efforts are being supported by the Environmental Protection Agency. We took a look at these projects in our previous post.
H2S, sometimes known as “sewer gas,” is the oil and gas industry’s enemy No. 1. A chief part of the refining process is removing sulfur and H2S from raw streams to be able to bring refined natural gas to market. So yes, natural gas should play a fundamental role in any low-carbon policy proposed. But this is possible only if more attention is paid to technological advances in refining it.
As we look toward 
But there is obviously another force at work that will likely impact the world markets outside he supply question – Congress is considering legislation to mandate lower emissions from industry either through European “cap and trade” schemes or an outright tax. Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson said in a speech at an APEC summit in Singapore that he advocates for a carbon tax rather than carbon trading.
