Harnessing landfill gas (LFG) for electricity: A strategy to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Jakarta (Indonesia)

Abstract

Due to its increasing demands for fossil fuels, Indonesia needs an alternative energy to diversify its energy supply. Landfill gas (LFG), which key component is methane (CH 4 ), has become one of the most attractive options to sustain its continued economic development. This exploratory study seeks to demonstrate the added value of landfilled municipal solid waste (MSW) in generating sustainable energy, resulting from CH 4 emissions in the Bantargebang landfill (Jakarta). The power generation capacity of a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant based on a mathematical modeling was investigated. This article critically evaluated the production of electricity and potential income from its sale in the market. The project's environmental impact assessment and its socio-economic and environmental benefits in terms of quantitative and qualitative aspects were discussed. It was found that the emitted CH 4 from the landfill could be reduced by 25,000 Mt annually, while its electricity generation could reach one million kW ⋅h annually, savings on equivalent electricity charge worth US$ 112 million/year (based on US' 8/kW ⋅ h). An equivalent CO 2 mitigation of 3.4 × 10 6 Mt/year was obtained. The income from its power sale were US$ 1.2 ×10 6 in the 1 st year and 7.7 ×10 7 US$ in the 15 th year, respectively, based on the projected CH 4 and power generation. The modeling study on the Bantargebang landfill using the LFG extraction data indicated that the LFG production ranged from 0.05 to 0.40 m 3…