The mayor of the city of São Pedro da Aldeia, Cláudio Chumbinho, yesterday opened the Biogas Treatment Plant at Dois Arcos Landfill, located in the district of Alecrim. The project, regarded as a pioneering action in Brazil, has involved an investment of R$ 18 million (approximately US$ 8 million) and will be dedicated to the production of biomethane from landfill gas. The estimated production of the plant is five million cubic meters of purified biogas per year.
Secretary of Economic Development of Rio de Janeiro State, Julio Bueno, said that a law passed by the Legislature of the State of Rio de Janeiro allows the renewable natural gas produced by Dois Arcos plant to be acquired by Gas Company of the State of Rio de Janeiro (CEG-Rio), which will invest R$ 6 million (US$ 2.6 million) in the fuel distribution.
“This project represents a new way of seeing the waste we produce and a new way of thinking about the production of renewable fuel. In the next months, we will here advance in the experimental use of biomethane as a fuel,” said project manager and representative of Ecometano Marcio Schittini.
The plant is not yet connected to the CEG-Rio’s distribution network and until the pipeline is built, the biogas produced at the site will be compressed and delivered to an industrial consumer. In this first stage, the natural gas obtained will also power the waste collection trucks and the vehicles fueled by CNG owned by the company.