Exactly a year ago, looking at rising fuel costs, I used this column to discuss some of the factors associated with the run-up, suggesting that we had only begun to experience the explosion on the demand side of the equation. In the same column I talked about the relationship between distributed power generation and renewable energy resources, and how the success of one is to some extent dependent on the other. While the thesis is no more pregnant today than it’s been in the past, what just happened to me on the way home last evening—forking over $42.26 for 15.1 gallons of 91-octane gas—gives me the urge to trot the subject out again for more discussion.

While the relationship between the cost of gasoline at the pump and the value of renewables is subtle, it is indelibly there, reflecting our hesitancy to go head-to-head with a mounting energy crisis. And when I say “our” I’m not talking about some august body of legislators, executives, or administrators wringing their hands in futile frustration, but the great body of “us” who keep looking for other people or circumstances to blame in a vain attempt to justify quick-fixes or short term solutions. If you remember last year, OPEC’s concern with the weakening dollar pushed the cost of petroleum to over $28.00/bbl. Today that price has doubled to more than $57.00/bbl with all the predictable repercussions to our general economy you might expect…and no relief in sight for some time to come.

Contrary to what some may wish to believe, today’s issues are not the result of scalawags meeting in smoke-filled rooms, or even a decline in fossil fuel production, Rather, we’re facing the consequences of one of the most amazing success stories of history…the creation of a global economy in which ever greater numbers of the world’s people get to participate in what we ourselves have established as the desirable fruits of prosperity.

Given the magnitude of today’s energy demands, and an almost certain procession of increases the future will have to swallow, you have to ask yourself what possible role such relatively minor players as renewable energy resources and distributed energy activities can play. From the utility perspective you’d probably say, “very little,” which reflects the enthusiasm with which most of them embrace renewable energy portfolio goals or mandates.

But is that the real story? I think not. Already we’re seeing successful wind and solar projects come online that do make a difference at the local if not the national or global level. But even more exciting in my mind is the emergence of landfill-gas-to-energy (LFGTE) as a genuine player in the renewables arena.

YIMBY? Why Not?
Because the subject of our sister publication, MSW Management, is waste, we’re pretty familiar with the NIMBY syndrome when it comes to facility siting. The situation is complicated by the efforts of many environmentalists who see landfilling as the least desirable of all waste disposal options despite the fact that a modern Subtitle D-compliant landfill is acknowledged by EPA to be among the most environmentally sound. Never mind that it is in most cases the least-cost option, a function at least in part the result of its low energy footprint relative to other—notably recycling—management strategies, conventional wisdom holds that landfills are an insult to the environment and decrease real estate values…neither of which is for the most part true.

For years, LFGTE projects have relied on government largesse (PURPA and/or tax credits) to attract investment, but as you may have noticed, the proposition has in recent days become increasingly attractive. Part of this, of course, is the rising and unpredictable price of natural gas. As more and more companies, such as General Motors, have come to recognize—and appreciate—the ability to gauge the future cost and availability of the energy resource is of value…”a no-brainer” in the eyes of a spokesman for one of the auto giant’s LFG-fueled projects.

At the moment there are approximately 380 LFGTE projects online against a backdrop of perhaps another 600 qualified candidate sites. In the past year several companies have made plans to locate in the vicinity of landfills in order to take advantage of the resource. Could it be that somewhere down the line landfills may be considered public benefits occasioning excited citizens to march lock-step in favor of their local siting…in effect saying, Yes In My Back Yard? I wouldn’t suggest holding your breath, but then we’ve all seen stranger flip-flops in this wacky world.

Send John an e-mail

DE - May/June 2005