Coordinación Ecológica Area Metropolitana Sociedad del Estado (CEAMSE)

Pacific Energy Systems, Inc.

Item

Name of organization (original language)

Name of individual if unaffiliated with any organization

Coordinación Ecológica Area Metropolitana, Sociedad del Estado (CEAMSE)

Name of organization (English)

Acronym (original language)

CEAMSE

Acronym (English)

Department

Function(s) within the AIJ project activities

Project implementation and monitoring, owner and operator of landfills

Street

Av. Amancio Alcorta 3000

City

(1437) Buenos Aires

State

Buenos Aires

Post code

Country

Republic of Argentina

Telephone

541-912-0017

Fax

541-912-8043

E-mail

Asavino@CEAMSE.gov.ar

World Wide Web-URL address

Surname

Savino

First name, middle name

Dr. Atilio A.

Job title

Secretario General H. Directorio

Direct telephone

541-912-0017

Direct fax

541-912-8043

Direct e-mail

Asavino@CEAMSE.gov.ar

Surname

First name, middle name

Job title

Direct telephone

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Item

Name of organization (original language)

Name of individual if unaffiliated with any organization

Secretaría de Desarrollo Sustentable y Politica Ambiental

Name of organization (English)

Acronym (original language)

SDSYPA

Acronym (English)

Department

Function(s) within the AIJ project activities

External verification of project performance

Street

Av. San Martín 459

City

(1004) Buenos Aires

State

Buenos Aires

Post code

Country

Republic of Argentina

Telephone

54 11 4 348 8648

Fax

54 11 4 348 8678

E-mail

World Wide Web-URL address

Surname

Gaioli

First name, middle name

Fabian Horacio

Job title

Direct telephone

54 11 4 348 8421

Direct fax

541-348-8404/8589

Direct e-mail

Mcraviotto@sernah.gov.ar

Surname

Carlino

First name, middle name

Hernan

Job title

Coordinator

Direct telephone

54 11 4 348 8649

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Item

Name of organization (original language)

Name of individual if unaffiliated with any organization

Pacific Energy Systems, Inc. (PES)

Name of organization (English)

Acronym (original language)

PES

Acronym (English)

Department

Function(s) within the AIJ project activities

Project Coordination and reporting

Street

1699 SW Fourth Avenue, Suite 770

City

Portland

State

Oregon

Post code

97201

Country

U.S.A.

Telephone

503-227-7611

Fax

503-227-7723

E-mail

djones@pacensys.com

World Wide Web-URL address

Surname

Martin

First name, middle name

John R.

Job title

President

Direct telephone

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Surname

Jones

First name, middle name

Dr. Daniel B.

Job title

Project Manager

Direct telephone

503-227-7611

Direct fax

503-227-7723

Direct e-mail

djones@pacensys.com

Sector(s)

Energy and Waste

Primary activity(ies)

Methane Collection and Combustion

Country

Argentina

Exact location (city, state, region)

Relleno Sanitario Norte or Relleno Sanitario Villa Dominico for pilot phase, any or all of CEAMSE’s landfills serving the Greater Buenos Aires area

Project starting date (month/year)

Upon receipt of secured funding

Project ending date (month/year)

2018 (or later)

Project lifetime (years)

20 (can continue longer)

Current stage of project

Mutually agreed

The Landfill Gas Management project in Greater Buenos Aires involves the development of gas collection and combustion systems at landfills owned and operated by Coordinación Ecológica Area Metropolitana, Sociedad del Estado (CEAMSE), a regional government agency. CEAMSE will install and operate a system of wells, pipes, blowers, and flares to recover and burn landfill gas (LFG) from the landfills it currently owns or will own in the future. CEAMSE is responsible for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal in Greater Buenos Aires and the surrounding metropolitan area in Buenos Aires Providence. The project estimates that if 70 percent of the gas generated by the 5 million tonnes of waste deposited annually in the CEAMSE landfills is collected and combusted, the project could result in an emission reductions of 4 million tonnes carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent per year. If the landfill gas were used as a replacement for fossil fuel to generate electricity or useful thermal energy, the benefit could be greater.

Emission reductions are estimated to cost $1 to $2 per ton of CO₂ equivalent. This estimate is based on gas production from U.S. landfills with adjustments made for different characteristics of refuse in Argentina. Cost estimates are based on preliminary data from contractors and equipment suppliers.

Costs are estimated as follows:

Year Type Amount

1998 DOE proposal development grant $33,000

1998 Other proposal development NA

1999 Sponsor contacts NA

Party(ies) that will be monitoring project activities

Coordinación Ecológica Area Metropolitana, Sociedad del Estado (CEAMSE)

Party(ies) that will be externally verifying project results

To be determined

Date when the monitoring plan became (or will become) operational (month/year)

To be determined

Types of data that will be collected

The types of data to be collected includes the following: 1) cumulative gas volume, 2) methane concentration, 3) pressure measurements at wells, blower or compressor inlet and blower or compressor exit, 4) electricity consumption, and 5) gas utilization system parameters. Collection systems will be inspected as well.

External verification is to be determined. (Note: The SDSYPA in its letter of approval did not compromise the external verification activities by the Secretaria.)

Please check one of the following.

This report is a first report.

This report is an intermediate report.

This report is a final report.

Please check one of the following:

This report is a joint report. Letter(s) of approval of this report from the designated national authority of the other Party(ies) involved in the activity is (are) attached in Section J, Annex.

This report is a separate report.

Additional comments (if any):

The project will include the transfer of LFG control technology from the U.S. to Argentina. In 1986, the U.S. Department of Energy and Argentina signed an agreement to promote energy technology transfer. To the extent that the LFG is used beneficially, it could displace the use of fossil fuels. Since natural gas is abundant and cheap in Greater Buenos Aires, the immediate benefit would be minimal. If LFG technology became uiltized on a larger scale, the consumption of diesel fuel and other fossil fuels might be reduced.

The following potential non-greenhouse gas environmental impacts have been identified:

1) Decreased Photochemical smog in Greater Buenos Aires.

Trace amounts of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) exist in LFG. If an U.S. landfill continuously receives 100,000 tons of municipal solid waste per year, it emits on the order of 50 tons of NMVOC per year. For this reason, large landfills collect and burn LFG. Photochemical smog is formed by the NMVOC reacting in the atmosphere. If concentrations of NMVOC in LFG in Buenos Aires were similar to those in the U.S., the 5 million tons of solid waste disposed per year would result in 2500 tons of NMVOC per year. By burning LFG, the NMVOC’s are destroyed.

2) Improved opportunities for leachate collection and treatment

Controlling leachate is an essential part of Greater Buenos Aires’ water pollution control strategy. LFG collection systems could be designed to collect leachate as well as gas from landfills, thus reducing the cost of leachate management. The landfill gas might be used to evaporate leachate and to combust volatile organic compounds.

3) Decreased chance of landfill fires and offsite migration of LFG

An active collection system will decrease the likelihood that LFG will accumulate in pockets in the landfills, leak through the landfill cover, and migrate offsite. Uncontrolled movements or accumulations of LFG can result in fire hazards.

4) Increased emissions of NO_X

Landfill gas flares and other LFG burning equipment emit oxides of nitrogen as a result of high temperature combustion in the presence of nitrogen. Generally, the air quality benefits of destroying NMVOC are considered to outweigh the adverse impacts of NO_X emissions from well-designed flares and other combustion equipment.

5) Landfill Cover Protection

Landfill gas seeping through the landfill cover can kill grass or other vegetative cover that is important for the protection of the cover. By collecting the gas, the landfill cover is protected from erosion.

This information is not yet available.

Should revenues or investments from this project exceed the cost of the LFG management system or offset other landfill management costs, CEAMSE will be able to invest in a better system or offer lower tipping fees to parties using its landfills. This may encourage waste generators to use landfills instead of open air dumping which is a problem in Greater Buenos Aires.

Site number (order of presentation in this report)

1 of 1 (Proposed pilot site)

Site name/designation

Rellano Sanitario Norte or Rellano Sanatario Villa Dominico

Project sector

Energy and Waste

Primary activity(ies)

Landfill Methane Recovery

Has the reference scenario changed since the last report? (If yes, explain any changes below.)

Yes

No

This is the first project report.

Description:

The project will be implemented in phases. No work has begun to date. The above sites were chosen in 1998 as the most promising sites.

After a successful pilot phase the project will be implemented at all CEAMSE landfills in Greater Buenos Aires. CEAMSE estimates that the existing landfills will be filled to capacity by 2003. New landfill sites are being identified and studied. LFG collection may be implemented at any of the landfills.

Primary activity(ies)

Greenhouse gas emissions reduction

Description:

The project could result in an emissions reduction benefit of approximately four million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year (80,000,000 tons over the 20 year life of the project). Use of the gas is an option that could displace fossil fuel and result in additional reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Primary activity(ies)

This information is not yet available.

Description:

This information is not yet available.

Site number

1 of 1

Project sector

Energy

The quantity of methane emissions that will be reduced through the project will be measured using a gas meter. Calculations of emissions reductions resulting from this project are not dependent on models or estimates, but on actual measurements of gas that is burned and on periodic laboratory analyses of the methane content of the LFG.

Municipal solid waste disposal (MSW) in CEAMSE’s landfills was 2,269,521 tons in 1990 and 4,817,860 tons in 1997, which reflects an 11% growth rate per year. A conservative estimate of 4% growth was applied to the 1997 figure for an estimated amount of 5 million ton/year of MSW as a baseline figure. The baseline estimate of methane generation is 317,500 ton/year.

Future baseline emissions are expected to grow over the life of the project as the population served by CEAMSE grows and addition landfills are added. Updated on baseline emissions will be provided, if needed, in annual project reports.

A gas collection system will be constructed to recover methane from all of the disposed MSW from the CEAMSE landfills. LFG collection systems do not collect all of the gas that is generated in a landfill. In this project, the assumption is that 70% of gas will be collected (i.e., of the 317,500 tons/year of methane generation, 222,250 will be collected). If gas collection is not implemented at all possible sites, emission reductions can be estimated as 0.8 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per tonne of municipal solid waste from which gas is recovered.

This information is not yet available.

Several factors affect the quantity of gas actually collected by a gas control system. These factors will be studied as the project is implemented. However, only gas actually burned will be claimed as a reduced emission. Nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) in landfill gas are destroyed in the combustion process. NMHC are ozone precursors. The project will, therefore, decrease ozone production in the Buenos Aires area. Ozone is a greenhouse gas as well as a local air contaminant.

Once collected and burned, methane cannot re-form in the atmosphere. There is no possibility of reversal.

Funding entities are currently being sought for developing a phase of any size. The project is ready for development when funding is available.

Active landfill gas control is rarely practiced in developing countries and is not practiced in Argentina. This project will transfer state of the art LFG technology to Argentina. It will provide information on gas generation and operational and design problems that may be unique to countries having refuse with high food content.

This information is not yet available.

This information is not yet available.

None.

Argentina/Landfill Gas Management in Greater Buenos Aires

Oscar E. Massei, Secretary of Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy