Estimating of gases emission from waste sites to generate electrical energy as a case study at Al-Hillah City in Iraq

Ali Chabuk; Udai A Jahad; Ali Majdi; Hasan S H Majdi; Mubeen Isam; Nadhir Al-Ansari; Jan Laue

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-42335-3

Estimating of gases emission from waste sites to generate electrical energy as a case study at Al-Hillah City in Iraq

Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 14;13(1):15193. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42335-3.

Authors

Ali Chabuk¹, Udai A Jahad¹, Ali Majdi², Hasan S H Majdi³, Mubeen Isam⁴, Nadhir Al-Ansari⁵, Jan Laue⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environment Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Babylon, Babylon, 51001, Iraq.
² Building and Construction Techniques Engineering, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Babylon, 51001, Iraq.
³ Head of Faculty, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Babylon, 51001, Iraq.
⁴ Research and Studies Unit, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Babylon, 51001, Iraq.
⁵ Department of Civil Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, 971 87, Lulea, Sweden. nadhir.alansari@ltu.se.
⁶ Department of Civil Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, 971 87, Lulea, Sweden.

Abstract

Methane (CH₄) is a greenhouse gas resulting from human activities, especially landfills, and it has many potential environmental issues, such as its major role in global warming. On the other hand, methane can be converted to liquid fuel or electricity using chemical conversion or gas turbine generators. Therefore, reusing such gases could be of great environmental and economic benefit. In this context, this study aims to estimate the emissions of methane gas from the landfills in Al-Hillah City, Iraq, from 2023 to 2070 and the producible electric energy from this amount. The estimating process was carried out using the Land GEM model and compared with traditional models. The obtained results demonstrated that the total estimated landfill methane emissions for 48 years are 875,217 tons, and the average annual methane emission is 18,234 tons based on a yearly waste accumulation rate of 1,046,413 tons and a total waste amount of 50,227,808 tons. The anticipated loads of methane gas can be utilized to generate about 287,442 MW/year of electricity from 2023 to 2070. In conclusion, the results obtained from this study could be evidence of the potential environmental and economic benefits of harvesting and reusing methane gas from landfills.