Giving Compass' Take:

• Researchers report that synthetic compounds called “siloxanes” from everyday products like shampoo and motor oil are finding their way into landfills and supercharging the biogas those landfills produce, helping create more green energy.

• What other innovative solutions can help our trash overflow problem?

• Learn about this new recycling facility that will repurpose 90% of household waste. 

While it’s a problem today, the researchers say it could be an opportunity to get more energy out of landfill gas.

The compounds efficiently conduct heat and interact with water, and as such their popularity has increased in a variety of consumer products. That means more and more siloxanes are headed to your local landfill.

Biogas refers to fuel gases that are synthesized from different biological or organic feedstocks like landfill gas and wastewater treatment plants. In recent years, it has become clear that siloxanes have been damaging the power-generating equipment that’s fueled with landfill gas. But the researchers say it may be possible to harness the siloxanes to produce more energy.

The researchers conducted the first chemical analysis of how siloxanes affect biogas. They found that siloxanes increase the reactivity of biogas, leading to faster ignition in engines and the release of more energy. But the siloxanes in the biogas can damage those engines—typically power-generating gas turbines and reciprocating piston engines.

Read the full article about landfill biogas energy by Nicole Casal Moore at Futurity.