Türkiye'deki katı atık deponi alanlarında oluşan gazın çevresel ve ekonomik açıdan incelenmesi | Environmental and economical investigation of solid waste landfill gas in Turkey

Due to the rapid population growth, urbanization and technological improvements in our century, waste generation is increasing significantly. In order to prevent harmful environmental effects of these waste, suitable methods should be applied in compliance with relevant regulations. In this respect, sanitary landfilling is the most commonly applied controlling method both in our country and all around the world. During the stabilization of the solid waste collected in landfills, landfill gas with high energy potential accumulates over time with biochemical decomposition of the organic compounds in the waste. Since the energy demand is increasing in the last decades, number of the studies on energy recovery from landfill gas are increasing in all around the world.In addition to harmful environmental impacts, landfill gas has also significant greenhouse gas impact because of high rate of methane content in the composition. Therefore, controlling of landfill gas is also crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.In this study, Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions resulting from landfills were calculated by 2006 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories with data taken from TURKSTAT and Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation. The study shows that the methane generation from municipal solid waste in Turkey is about 738,000 tonnes in 2015, this figure increases each year and reachs 1,025,000 tonnes in 2030.After the calculation of the methane generation, the results were evaluated by the United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Landfill Methane Outreach Program Model developed for landfill gas to energy projects to identify greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation, environmental benefits and electricity production potential. In 2015, Turkey's electricity production potential from landfill gas is 370.47 MW and this figure reachs 514.54 MW in 2030. Similarly, GHG mitigation potential increases on a yearly basis. GHG mitigation potential from landfill gas to electricity production of Turkey is about 20.1 Million tonnes CO2 equivalent in 2015 and it increases about 27.9 Million tonnes CO2 equivalent in 2030.Then, the electricity production potential was converted to financial value by using renewable energy electricity production purchase price data taken from Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority. In monetary terms, Turkey's electricity production potential from landfill gas was estimated about 394 Million USD in 2015 and 547.5 Million USD in 2030.