Practices for Producing Energy from Biogas in Landills: A Comparative Study between Companies in Italy and Romania

Abstract

The waste landfill sector contributes annually to climate change through its greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane. To reduce emissions from this sector, an effective and sustainable solution is to use the biogas emitted by these landfills to produce energy. Due to its benefits and growing interest, the topic has been adopted in global literature but has received little attention in Romania. Thus, this article presents a comparative analysis of biogas utilization practices between Italy and Romania. The analysis aimed to study the practices adopted by companies operating landfills in the two countries, identify the main differences between them, and formulate recommendations for improving the practices of companies in Romania. The study highlights the fact that, at the current time, there are no functional systems in Romania that can use biogas from municipal solid waste landfills to produce energy. One of the reasons for this is the low efficiency of the waste management system, mainly due to the lack of an adequate selective collection and transport system, which affects sorting and recycling processes. The results highlight the need to increase ambition, study more efficient technologies and systems, and make the necessary investments in this sector. These will contribute to multiple benefits in the future, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the overall impact on the environment, producing green energy that can successfully replace fossil fuels, with a positive economic and social impact.