Biomass energy from revegetation of landfill sites

While landfilling provides a simple and economic means of waste disposal, it causes environmental impacts including leachate generation and greenhouse gas emissions. Increasingly, revegetation is practiced on traditionally managed landfill sites to mitigate environmental degradation. It also provides a source of biomass for energy production. Biomass from landfill sites can be converted to bioenergy through biochemical and thermochemical processes. Selection of suitable biomass-producing plants (high-yielding crops), pretreatments (e.g., removal of lignin) and providing ideal conditions for the conversion processes (e.g., temperature and pressure) influence the quantity and quality of energy generated. This chapter provides an overview of the potential volumes of biomass produced from landfills and the various methods of biomass energy conversion.