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AN environmental group, EcoWaste Coalition, has
raised serious doubts about environmental and climate benefits of
the methane project in Rodriguez, Rizal, and cited a paper by a
US-based Zero Waste advocate Peter Anderson saying that “LFGTE
[landfill gas to energy] is a non-productive approach.”
The coalition said the best way
to cut the release of methane into the atmosphere is to ban the
disposal of biodegradable or organic matters in dumps.
It added that zero waste programs
should also be enforced through waste prevention, reduction,
separation at source, recycling and composting.
“It’s a ‘band-aid
solution’ that does not curb the production of methane. If the
government is sincere in cutting greenhouse gas emissions from
dumps, it must keep all biodegradable materials out of dumps and
push for innovative zero waste programs nationwide,” Romy Hidalgo,
secretary of the coalition said.
The coalition further explained
that landfill energy systems do not necessarily prevent substantial
discharge of methane because of the inefficiencies in the systems to
capture all the methane produced.
Methane is a global warming gas
that has 23 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.
The methane power generation
project by Montalban Methane Power Corp. was inaugurated Thursday by
President Gloria Arroyo.
--Ira Karen Apanay
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