Energy and waste industry leaders gathered Wednesday, Oct. 1, to mark the launch of the Lee County Renewable Natural Gas facility, a project already converting landfill gas into clean energy for the region.

The facility, developed through a partnership between Ameresco, Republic Services, and U.S. Energy, is the 15th of its kind built jointly by Republic and Ameresco. Officials said the project highlights environmental and economic benefits that include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, generating a reliable renewable fuel and contributing to Illinois’ push for energy resilience and sustainability.

Michael Bakas, president of renewable fuels for Ameresco, led a group of keynote speakers, including Matthew Healy, Midwest area president for Republic Services; Meredith Gipson, director of renewable energy development for Republic Services; Bryan Nudelbacher, vice president of RNG for U.S. Energy; and Patrick Serfass, executive director of the American Biogas Council.

“The Lee County RNG plant takes the methane emissions of the landfill, which is a potent greenhouse gas contributor, and turns it into a renewable, clean and dispatchable energy resource,” Bakas said. “This not only reduces harmful emissions, but also provides a source of base load green energy.”

The Lee County RNG facility captures methane produced by decomposing waste and converts it into a pipeline-ready fuel. The system is built at a scale of 11.7 megawatts electric and can process about 4,500 standard cubic feet per minute of raw landfill gas. Developers said it will generate about 1.2 million dekatherms of renewable natural gas annually, enough to displace significant volumes of conventional natural gas.

“To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of taking about 15,000 cars off the road for one year, or covering more than 13,000 homes,” Nudelbacher said.

Developers said the project’s environmental benefits are estimated at 61,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide avoided each year, the equivalent of keeping about 870 million gallons of gasoline or 1.5 million barrels of oil from being consumed. By capturing methane that otherwise would escape into the atmosphere, the facility reduces a potent greenhouse gas while supplying a reliable source of clean energy to homes and businesses through existing pipelines.

Some critics argue that landfill-to-energy projects risk reinforcing reliance on landfills at a time when communities are seeking to reduce waste through recycling and diversion programs.

Bakas pushed back on that idea.

“Landfills aren’t created to make these projects. These projects are a result of the landfills,” Bakas said. “The reality is, society creates waste, and no one has come up with an organic diversion that’s fail-proof. Instead of just discarding it and making it worse, we’re repurposing it. It’s no longer a waste because we’re displacing fossil fuel and leaving that fossil fuel in the ground.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, landfill-to-RNG projects offer several advantages. Capturing and upgrading landfill gas reduces methane emissions, supports local air quality improvements when used as vehicle fuel and helps diversify the energy supply.

“Previously, methane collected at the site was burned off in a flare – a big flame you could see at the landfill,” Bakas said. “Now, instead of flaring it, that gas is captured, cleaned and put into the pipeline for communities to use.”

He went on to say that RNG projects can deliver economic benefits by creating jobs and generating credits under federal renewable fuel programs, such as the Renewable Fuel Standard.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to add tax revenue in the way of property tax,” Bakas said. “It’s also repurposing a space by adding something useful to the landfill.”

At the same time, the EPA notes challenges that come with RNG development.

Upgrading landfill gas to pipeline quality requires costly treatment systems, and connecting to existing pipelines can involve technical and regulatory hurdles. Methane leaks during collection, processing, or transport can undercut the climate benefits if not carefully managed. In addition, the overall greenhouse gas savings depends on how efficiently the gas is captured and processed.

“Besides there being methane detectives everywhere, if something goes on with the plant, the valves are automatically shut down, and the gas is redirected ... so we don’t have any kind of releases,” Bakas said.

Ameresco’s partnership with Republic Services began early in the company’s history and has grown over two decades to focus on capturing and repurposing methane from landfills. The collaboration has produced 16 renewable energy projects, including the Lee County facility and sites in Danville and Edwardsville.

“We’re actually working on a fourth project with Republic right now in East Moline, which we expect to be mechanically complete by the end of the year,” Bakas said. “That partnership in Illinois represents four projects totaling over $300 million in capital investment in the great state of Illinois. That’s economic development at its finest.”

Healy said the Lee County RNG facility is “a testament to the positive impact we can have when we work together towards a common goal. The goal is to have and to be a more sustainable world.”

Ameresco also presented a $25,000 check to a group of Dixon High School students participating in the Future Farmers of America program, an opportunity suggested to the company by the Book family.

“This contribution reflects our shared values and Ameresco’s ... promise to invest in initiatives that make a lasting impact,” said Leila Dillon, senior vice president of corporate marketing and communications at Ameresco.

Serfass said that millions of tons of waste are produced annually in the U.S. and Illinois, and without RNG projects, much would go unused.

“To put this project into context, there are 2,500 biogas systems in the U.S., 116 in Illinois, and 13 of those are RNG projects,” Serfass said. “Four were built last year, another four were built the year before, and this is the second to become operational this year. What they’re experiencing here is this great growth and the beneficial use of waste to produce renewable energy and economic development locally.”

The Lee County RNG is at 1005 Corregidor Road in Dixon. For information, visit ameresco.com.