Lebanon Landfill
Gas Project

Emissions Reduction

2023

Lebanon, PA, USA

This project captures and combusts landfill gas, mostly methane, from 2.5 million cubic meters of solid waste in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The project eliminates a potent greenhouse gas that would have been released into the atmosphere under normal circumstances, instead of using it to generate electricity.

Project Timelines

Vintage: 2023

Years Active: 2008 - 2024

Project Lifetime: 2008 - 2028

Why this matters

Decomposition of organic materials in landfills produces significant amounts of methane, in addition to other noxious gasses. Methane has 28 times the warming effect of CO2, and thus combusting it — primarily into CO2 and water — drastically reduces the effective landfill emissions, slows climate change, and generates electrical power in the process.

Carbon credits fund construction, maintenance, and monitoring of the landfill methane collection and combustion system that pipes the flammable greenhouse gas into a small power generation facility for export to the grid.

Impact

Estimated to avoid 25,600 tons CO2e per year
Estimated to provide 250,000 tons CO2e emissions over the project lifetime.
Generates up to 3.2 megawatts of baseload replacement electricity to power about 2,600 homes.

Sources: Verra, 3Degrees Inc

Co-benefits

Project supports the Renewable Energy Education Center on site, educating students, teachers and community groups from around the world about on-site technology and clean energy.
Burning landfill gas destroys hazardous air pollutants that pose threats to local public health.
Project creates local employment, including: a professional engineer, staff engineer, and a landfill gas technician.
This project’s activities meet the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Benefits

Methane reduction: Landfill gas (LFG) projects capture methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a much higher global warming potential than CO2. This directly reduces emissions that would otherwise enter the atmosphere.
Energy generation: Many LFG projects convert the captured methane into electricity or usable fuel, providing a renewable energy source and potentially offsetting fossil fuel use.
Improved air quality: By capturing and treating landfill gasses, the project reduces local air pollution and odors, benefiting nearby communities.
Safety improvements: Methane buildup in landfills can pose explosion risks. LFG collection systems help mitigate this danger.
Economic benefits: This project creates jobs and generates revenue through energy sales and carbon credit issuance, supporting the local economy.
Waste management incentives: Sale of carbon credits incentivizes better landfill management practices and investment in gas capture technologies.
Technology advancement: Implementing these projects can drive innovation in waste management and renewable energy technologies.
Compliance with regulations: In some jurisdictions, LFG projects help landfill operators meet environmental regulations.
Public awareness: These projects raise awareness about waste management issues and climate change mitigation efforts.
Utilization of existing waste: LFG projects make productive use of waste that has already been generated, addressing a problem that already exists.

Risks

Additionality concerns: Critics argue that some landfill gas projects would have been implemented anyway due to regulations or economic incentives, questioning whether the carbon credits truly represent additional emission reductions.
Perverse incentives: There's a concern that carbon credits from landfill gas projects might inadvertently incentivize the creation of more landfills or the continuation of landfill-based waste management, rather than promoting more sustainable alternatives like recycling or composting.
Overestimation of emission reductions: Some studies suggest that the emission reductions from landfill gas projects may be overestimated, particularly due to uncertainties in measuring methane emissions and the effectiveness of gas capture systems.
Limited climate impact: Some argue that while reducing methane emissions from landfills is important, these projects don't address the broader systemic changes needed to combat climate change effectively, nor address long-term issues of waste reduction and sustainable waste management practices.

Ratings

Registry

Attributes

Durability

Additionality

ID 5

Offset Issuance Records

Very Good

Independent technical analysis estimates that the climate benefits will last at least 100 years.
This project has low risk that manmade or natural processes will reverse its benefits.
Methane combustion, and corresponding emissions reductions, are immediate and irreversible.

Sources: Calyx Global, BeZero, Verra

Good

The project exists in an economic and regulatory context that requires sale of carbon credits to achieve climate impact targets.
The project only issues credits based on the avoided emissions from methane rather than the electricity generation, a more conservative approach that reduces risk of over-crediting.
The project uses conservative estimates of parameters in its modeling and re-evaluation thresholds (5%), and does not count flaring gas toward the credits.
On-site power generation increases project investment and value, increasing credits’ additionality.
Reassessment of additionality should occur if local economic or regulatory context changes.

Sources: Calyx Global, BeZero, Verra

Verifiability

Very Good

The project meets all national and international standards for issuing carbon credits via this avoidance mechanism.
Multiple independent third-party agencies verified the methods and outcomes of the emission reductions via standards, in-depth analysis, and site-visit.
At least one independent third-party rating agency scientifically evaluated the project and assigned medium-high confidence that project credits represent a unique and permanent emission reduction of 1 metric ton.
The project follows best practices to maintain the system, monitor methane capture and transport, and generate power efficiently.
Technical documentation and carbon credit transaction records for this project are available on public registries.

Sources: Calyx Global, Verra, Verra