Trash to Treasure

“Small developing economies such as Mauritius represent ideal case studies for decarbonization opportunities in the power sector, because traditionally they have had very inefficient, carbon-intensive supply chains. This includes, in particular, the burning of fuel oil or diesel in small-scale generators. And because of the small market size (population: 1.3 million), economies of scale are minimal, costs are high, and there is simply not much appetite among foreign companies to invest in better infrastructure. This makes carbon financing – or, alternatively, a high degree of subsidization – essential. In addition, this project combines decarbonization with improved waste management.”

Project Type: Renewable Energy: Avoided Methane Emissions

Carbon Standard: CDM

Vintage: 2019-2020

Additionality: Without the income from the sale of carbon credits this project would be unable to afford the machinery that combusts landfill methane and converts it to electricity.

Permanence: When methane gas is burned for electricity or flared it is permanently removed and provides an accurate count of exactly how much methane was destroyed.

Site Visit: TBD

The Mare Chicose landfill project collects and flares landfill gas and generates electricity. This is the only landfill site on Mauritius Island, an island threatened by rising seas due to climate change and located off the east coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is a large-scale, active landfill that has been operational since 1997 and has approximately 7.9 million tonnes of waste in place as of November 2018. It receives 530,000 tonnes of waste per year.

The project activity involves the installation of an active landfill gas collection system, an enclosed flare system, and a modular electricity generation system. Vertical wells spaced 40M apart are drilled into the landfill to enable maximum extraction of the gas.

Carbon revenues are used to create a more efficient gas collection system than required by law, including wells, piping, and intermediary gas collection stations. Funds from carbon are also used to create an electrical plant in order to generate electricity from landfill gas. This landfill actually flares more of the collected gas than required by law but only flares when the electrical plant is not operating. (Flaring is the situation when methane gas is burned to break the gas down into its components CO2 and water, which are much less harmful to the planet than methane has a global warming effect 25 times higher than CO2).

• The project intends to reduce 1,000,000 metric tonnes of Carbon dioxide equivalents over a 7-year period (about 150,000 per year)
• Handling the gas properly prevents landfill gas explosions
• Reduces odor and the subsequent health risks, such as asphyxiation, associated with concentrated landfill gas
• Trains other surrounding countries in landfill gas management
• Reduces demand for coal-fired power plant grid electricity, related coal use by about 13,000 tonnes per year as well as diesel-generated electricity
• 14 direct and indirect jobs will be created along with construction and post-construction jobs.
• No additional land must be allocated for the landfill
• Technology for the landfill program is transferred from Europe to the developing world.
• Measuring methane emissions reductions provides a highly accurate estimate of a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions pre and post-baseline
• Excellent verification and organized data collection

• The gas yield beyond a baseline amount, from the landfill is somewhat unpredictable
• The amount of electricity generated could be less than predicted due to lesser amounts of landfill gas generated
• Equipment failures with regard to flaring or monitoring and generation of electricity
• Special retirements are made by the project developer which adds an additional 2 weeks for processing.
• All CDM retirements are public. The registry does not offer private retirements.