We all know about the demands now being placed on energy provision across the globe. And we're all aware of the problems caused by the dumping of rubbish, and what to do with landfill. Now, according to Wired News, somebody's worked out a way of using one to help with the other.
In Bangladesh, a non-profit organisation - Waste Concern - is already helping turn organic waste into fertiliser. Now they want to use the noxious methane fumes released on the immense 50 acre Matuail landfill site to generate energy.
With 80 percent of the city's waste comprised of organic matter, all that festering garbage releases copious amounts of methane -- a greenhouse gas more than 20 times more destructive than carbon dioxide.
The organization hopes to take over operations of the vast Matuail dump site, installing a complex system that will capture methane before it is released into the atmosphere. The gas would be diverted to generators, and the resulting electricity would be sold to Dhaka's utility provider.
Once running at capacity, the system is expected to produce 3 to 4 megawatts of power -- enough for about 3,000 U.S. households, or about 50,000 of their Bangladeshi counterparts.
It might not solve the problem of landfill exactly, but it's an innovative way of coping with the situation.
