Is Landfill Gas Green Energy?
Contents page Executive Summary Municipal solid waste landfills, long reviled by the environmental community as sources of air and water pollution, have in recent years benefited from numerous subsidies associated with alternative fuels and renewable power. Federal and state tax credits and payments are now offered to landfill facilities that collect and utilize landfill gas for heat or electricity generation. Three related concerns have been raised with regard to these incentives. First, some have raised concerns about the health impacts of the exhaust from burning landfill gas. Second, some have pointed to the substantial environmental and public health damage caused by landfills and called into question the sustainability of landfills themselves and thus landfill gas. Finally, some have suggested that these subsidies are just another stone on the scale promoting landfilling over recycling. The United States generated 231.9 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2000, 55 perc
