Landfill Gas to become Renewable Natural Gas Fuel

On October 21, 2022, Will County cut the ribbon on a brand new 20,000-square-foot RNG facility at the Prairie View Landfill in Wilmington. The plant sits on a 1.5-acre site making use of the same pipes that carried the gas generated by the waste to the former gas-to-electricity generators and the flare for excess methane to be burned off per US EPA regulations. The County decided to expand efforts to recover the gas and determined the most benefical effort was to build a state-of-the-art system to repurpose methane gas into fuel to replace diesel.

The RNG Plant upgrades the landfill gas into pipeline-quality gas, transferring it into
renewable, revenue-generating transportation fuel. Will County continues to be on the cutting edge of sustainability and renewable energy – This plant is only the second in Illinois
to operate and the first in the Chicagoland region.

• Landfills produce a variety of gases, including methane. Currently, these gases are often burned in the flare into the atmosphere.

• The new RNG Plant will utilize all the available landfill gas and upgrade it into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas.

• After cleaning and upgrading the methane gas, it will be transferred externally.

• The gas will be utilized as transportation fuel for energy-efficient vehicles for the equivalent of nearly 150 million miles traveled annually.

• Environmental:
Capturing and repurposing methane, a potent greenhouse gas generated by landfilled waste.
Compared to an equivalent amount of gasoline, utilizing this RNG for transportation will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent.

• Financial:
A self-sustaining project, the plant is projected to raise millions of dollars annually for the Will County Budget.
The renewable natural gas produced will raise revenue for the county through both commodity sales and credits paid by fossil fuel providers.

FAST FACTS

• First Landfill Gas-to-Fuel Project in Northern Illinois, second in the State
• 96% of project work was performed by local companies
• 44% of project work was performed by Will County residents
• 50% of landfill gas is methane
• Natural gas is 70% to 90% methane
• The plant will recover a minimum of 93% of methane
• Construction began on June 2021 and ended October 2022