(Press-News.org) Research suggests that landfill gas-recovery projects should be implemented quickly if the maximum amount of methane gas is to be retrieved from organic waste in as short as time as possible, according to a study published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management.
Through appropriate management, landfill can be used to generate an alternative fuel gas containing that has half the caloric value of natural gas. Landfill gas (LFG) comprises approximately 50% methane and 50% carbon dioxide. However, such management requires significant investments before project commencement with no guarantee of how much methane can be generated and on what timescale.
Ed McBean, Professor of Engineering and Canada Research Chair, at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada, has assessed the rate at which LFG is produced by the Villa Dominico Landfill in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This landfill, as is common in landfills in the developing world, has a high organic matter content and is very moist. In these conditions, landfills generate LFG through anaerobic biodegradation of food and other organic waste at a high rate, 73% of the total LFG produced in the first five years after refuse placement and 93% within a decade.
"The implications for landfills are that LFG recovery projects must be implemented quickly before the gas is lost to the atmosphere," says McBean. LFG can be used for generation of electricity, heating of greenhouses, and production of boiler fuel as well as precluding direct release of this greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. That said, upfront investment amounting to millions of dollars is required for infrastructure construction to utilise LFG. "The accuracy of multi-year projections of the recoverable quantities of LFG is of paramount importance," McBean adds. His new model for estimating LFG potential of a given landfill could address this issue.
###
"In-situ estimation of the methane generation rate for a wet and highly organic solid waste landfill" in Int. J. Environment and Waste Management, 2011, 8, 123-132
Estimating landfill gas potential
2011-05-27
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
AsiaRooms.com - Enjoy Bats at Wetlands in Hong Kong
2011-05-27
Bats at Wetlands is sure to be a popular exhibition for fans of the winged animal who visit the wildlife park.
It has been organised as part of the venue's fifth anniversary and will be running until October 31st 2011.
In a statement, the organisers said: "Visitors may discover the fun facts about the behaviour, cultural symbolism and conservation research projects on bats through a wide range of high-tech games, videos, interactive panels and interpretation sessions."
They went on to point out that the animal has a special significance in Hong Kong, ...
Cognitive decline incidence higher in Southern stroke belt
2011-05-27
New research shows that residents of the Stroke Belt—a southern portion of the U.S. with significantly elevated stroke morality rate—also have a greater incidence of cognitive decline than other regions of the country. Researchers believe shared risk factors among members of this population are to blame. Results of this study, funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), are published in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association.
In 1965 the Stroke Belt first appeared in medical literature to describe the ...
Neurologix presents 1-year data from phase 2 study of NLX-P101 in Parksinson's disease
2011-05-27
FORT LEE, N.J., May 26, 2011 -- Neurologix, Inc. (OTCBB: NRGX) announced the presentation today of efficacy results through one year of follow-up in patients treated as part of the Company's successful Phase 2 clinical trial for its novel, investigational gene therapy NLX-P101 for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). Improvements in the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) at 12 months for the randomized, double-blind, sham surgery-controlled trial of 45 subjects with advanced PD confirmed that patients treated with NLX-P101 experienced sustained, positive, ...
Precision-tinted lenses offer real migraine relief, reveals new study
2011-05-27
EAST LANSING, Mich. — For the first time, researchers have shown why precision-tinted lenses reduce headaches for migraine sufferers, a finding that could help improve treatment options for patients battling the debilitating ailment.
Jie Huang of Michigan State University's Department of Radiology used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to reveal how precision-tinted lenses normalize brain activity in patients with migraine headaches, preventing such attacks.
Huang's research appears in the current edition of the journal Cephalalgia, published by SAGE.
While ...
AsiaRooms.com - Check Out Portrait of Moscow at Seoul Museum of History
2011-05-27
Portrait of Moscow has opened at the Seoul Museum of History (SMH), offering visitors a chance to learn about a broad period of Russia's past.
Images in the collection date from modern times all the way back to the late 19th century, with each one providing a snapshot of the political or social context in which it was taken.
There are 80 pictures to view, all of which have been borrowed from the Moscow City Museum (MCM).
Attendees will find the exhibition split into four sections, with one featuring historical images, another looking at scenes from Moscow's Soviet ...
Improving DNA sequencing: Sponge-like biosensor crams enormous power into tiny space
2011-05-27
WASHINGTON, May 26—Vanderbilt University engineers have created a "spongy" silicon biosensor that shows promise not only for medical diagnostics, but also for the detection of dangerous toxins and other tiny molecules in the environment. This innovation was originally designed to detect the presence of particular DNA sequences, which can be extremely helpful in identifying whether or not a person is predisposed to heart disease or certain kinds of cancer. The new sensor is described in the Optical Society's open access journal, Optics Express.
Biological chemical sensors ...
AsiaRooms.com - Singapore Open Super Series 2011 Starts in June
2011-05-27
Next month will see some of the top badminton players in the world congregate for the Singapore Open Super Series 2011.
Running from June 14th to 19th, the event is one of the highlights of the country's badminton calendar.
It takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and will give attendees the chance to see the best players on the domestic scene take on international stars.
Some names to watch out for are Danny Bawa Christnanta, Vannessa Neo and Hendra Wijaya. They all came home from the recent Li Ning New Zealand International Challenge 2011 with trophies.
Christnanta ...
San Diego Daily Deals Site Sets Record
2011-05-27
San Diego's leading news site SignOnSanDiego.com recently partnered with digital agency Cuker Interactive to redesign Daily Deals, a service featuring deals of up to 90 percent off of local restaurants, attractions, and services. Located at http://dailydeal.signonsandiego.com, the program allows users to sign up to receive email notifications for daily deals, share them with friends and family, and earn credits for referral purchases. Since the site launched in March, the Daily Deals site has generated significant revenue, including a record-setting $366,035 through a single ...
Factors in berry-splitting in blueberries examined
2011-05-27
This release is available in Spanish.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers and a university colleague have found several factors involved in blueberry splitting, a significant problem that can cause losses of $300 to $500 per acre.
Splitting and cracking occur in southern highbush and rabbiteye blueberries if they receive preharvest rainfall when fully ripe or approaching ripeness, according to scientists with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS). ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency.
ARS horticulturist Donna Marshall, retired ...
Diabetes can be predicted 7 years before pregnancy with blood sugar and body weight
2011-05-27
OAKLAND, Calif. — A woman's risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy can be identified up to seven years before she becomes pregnant based on routinely assessed measures of blood sugar and body weight, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the online issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., studied 580 ethnically diverse women who took part in a multiphasic health checkup at Kaiser Permanente Northern California between1984 and 1996. The researchers looked ...