Coffee County Landfill Gas Collection, Alabama, USA

Though less photogenic than some of their carbon offset project counterparts, landfill gas projects play an essential role in the offset ecosystem, primarily by reducing emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. In Elba, Alabama, the Coffee County Sanitary Landfill has invested in being part of the climate solution by installing a system to collect and combust landfill gas before it can escape into the atmosphere. Without this project and its control of methane emissions, this county landfill would be a significant methane emission source.

There are 48 vertical wells installed within the Coffee County Landfill, with depths that ranging from 12 feet to 88 feet. A blower creates a vacuum that draws the landfill gas from these wells to the main collection header, where the landfill gas is combusted via a flare. The system now meets the rigorous performance standard defined by the Climate Action Reserve landfill gas protocol.