Landfill Methane

This fact sheet describes the environmental and health impacts of landfill methane in the United States, the regulatory frameworks governing its capture, and the economic viability of converting landfill gas (LFG) into energy.

• Landfills are the third largest source of anthropogenic methane in the United States, with landfill gas (LFG) accounting for 17.7 percent of all U.S. methane emissions. In 2011, this resulted in 103 million metric tonnes of carbon equivalent released into the atmosphere.
• The EPA regulates LFG from very large municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills, specifically those that have accepted waste since 1987 and contain more than 2.5 million metric tons or 2.5 million cubic meters of waste. These facilities must collect emissions and dispose of them via open flaring or controlled combustion, the latter of which can produce heat or electricity.
• The EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), established in 1994, is a voluntary initiative that assists landfill operators in developing LFG projects. As of October 2012, there were 605 operational energy projects across 48 states, producing approximately 15 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 100 billion cubic feet of LFG for direct use annually.
• The economic viability of LFG projects depends heavily on whether a capture system is already installed. For a privately owned 3 MW turbine project with an existing capture system, the EPA estimates a net return of approximately $590,000 over 15 years. Conversely, a similar project without a pre-existing capture system could lose approximately $3.5 million over the same period, though tax credits and carbon credits may offset these losses.
• California has implemented more stringent LFG regulations than federal law under the Global Warming Solutions Act (Assembly Bill 32). Effective June 2010, these regulations apply to MSW landfills with at least 450,000 tons of waste and an LFG heat input capacity exceeding 3 million British thermal units/hour (MMBtu/hr).

APA

Pierson, R. (2013). Landfill Methane. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-landfill-methane

Chicago

Pierson, Rachel. Landfill Methane. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2013. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-landfill-methane.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pierson |first1=Rachel |title=Landfill Methane |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=26 April 2013 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-landfill-methane |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pierson2013landfill, author = {Pierson, Rachel}, title = {{Landfill Methane}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2013}, month = apr, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-landfill-methane}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }