Nodal Power – a company that develops and operates landfill gas to energy power plants – recently announced that it has raised a $13 million seed round to mitigate methane emissions at landfills aggressively.
The company’s technology has the potential to reduce methane emissions from landfills significantly. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 25 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, making it a much more impactful gas to focus mitigation.
By combusting the methane gas in a generator, Nodal Power reduces carbon emissions compared to flaring or venting and creates beneficial use for an otherwise wasted resource. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that landfills account for approximately 14.3% of fugitive methane emissions in the United States.
Recent data from NASA suggests that the EPA underestimates the amount of methane released into the atmosphere due to an outdated approach to measuring methane emissions. Reducing methane emissions as fast as possible can have a large, positive environmental impact.
Much of the funding has already been deployed to build and operate two power plants in the US. Site one, located in the southeast US, exports electricity generated by landfill gas to the local utility. This site also has a data center, allowing economic dispatch between the utility and the data center. Site two, located in the mountain west, runs a (first of its kind) fully sustainable off-grid data center powered by landfill gas. Additional funds will be deployed at a third US site in early 2024. All three sites produce renewable electricity from methane gas generated by decomposing organic waste at landfills.
KEY QUOTE:
“We’ve developed solutions, specifically for smaller landfills, that allow us to bring these overlooked resources to market. Our technology and energy-first approach have the potential to make a significant impact on local energy markets.”
— Bryan Black (CEO)
