How one city is using landfill gas to heat their local greenhouses

Added on 29 August 2022

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How one city is using landfill gas to heat their local greenhouses

Of all the greenhouse gasses trapping heat in our atmosphere, methane is one of the most important. Even though it doesn't stay in the atmosphere as long as CO2, it is more potent and one of the biggest contributors to rising global temperatures. According to the EPA, 15% of methane emissions come from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills, and landfills represent the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S.

The methane emissions from MSW landfills in 2020 were approximately equivalent to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from about 20.3 million passenger vehicles driven for one year, or the CO₂ emissions from nearly 11.9 million homes' energy use for one year. At the same time, methane emissions from MSW landfills represent a lost opportunity to capture and use a significant energy resource.

Fortunately, some municipalities are figuring out ways to capture methane emissions from landfills to use as energy for various purposes. The design team at Ceres was lucky enough to be connected with one such municipality, and to be introduced to a community project that would use captured methane gas from their local landfill to heat actual greenhouses. Here's a closer look at the city that is changing the identity of methane from a greenhouse gas to a gas that powers greenhouses.

From One Greenhouse to Another

In Maryland Heights, MO, a suburb north of St. Louis, the construction of two Ceres HighYield Kit greenhouses is almost complete. These greenhouses are a crucial part of the "Greenhouse, Garden, and Sustainability Center" project that the city has spent years developing in order to build a better tomorrow for the community. Ceres caught up with Jim Carver, the Economic Development Manager of Maryland Heights, and Tina Politowski, Economic Development Management Assistant, to learn more about the past, present, and future of this incredible sustainability campus.