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    bp's Archaea Energy & Republic Services Start New Landfill Gas-to-RNG plant in Indiana

    June 17, 2024
    Once operational, the plant is expected to process up to 6,400 scfm into RNG, enough gas to heat more than 25,000 homes annually, according to the EPA Landfill Gas Energy Benefits calculator. Methane leaking from landfills is considered multiple times worse as a greenhouse gas than CO2.
    Image credit Archaea Energy
    66705629813cfd05df2300bd Archaea Landfill Rng

    Oil and gas giant bp’s subsidiary Archaea Energy and landfill services firm Republic Services inaugurated the latest renewable natural gas (RNG) plant as part of their Lightning Renewables joint venture.

    The Archaea Modular Design (AMD) plant at Republic's National Serv-All landfill in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is part of about 40 landfill gas-to-RNG projects targeted by the joint venture and is scheduled to come online in summer 2024.

    While AMD allows plants to be built on skids with interchangeable components, using a standardized modular design leads to faster builds as compared to previous industry standards.

    The Fort Wayne AMD plant will convert landfill gas collected from Republic Services' landfill into RNG for local air quality benefits and an increase and diversity of domestic energy production, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Decomposition at landfills emits huge quantities of methane, which is considered multiple times more dangerous as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide by many environmental scientists.

    Once operational, the plant is expected to process up to 6,400 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) of landfill gas into RNG. This is enough gas to heat more than 25,000 homes annually, according to the EPA's Landfill Gas Energy Benefits Calculator.

    The Lightning Renewables JV portfolio supports Archaea's planned production growth to greater than 50 trillion British thermal units (or 50 million mmBtu) per year by 2030. The Lightning Renewables RNG projects support Republic Services' long-term sustainability goal to reuse 50 percent more biogas by 2030. The JV's portfolio of projects will help Republic's total landfill gas-to-energy portfolio to reach more than 100.

    Last month, bp’s Archaea Energy commissioned its largest AMD plant so far in Shawnee, Kansas, next to a landfill. The Shawnee plant is expected to process 9,000 scfm of landfill gas into RNG, according to reports.

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    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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