LFGTE AND CARBON FINANCE FEASIBILITY STUDIES IN LATIN AMERICA

摘要

The World Bank has conducted LFGTE pre-feasibility studies at 10 landfills located in five Latin American countries. A previous presentation at the LFG Symposium (by Carl Bartone, World Bank consultant) discussed the objectives and progress of these studies, which were completed in July 2005. This paper discusses specific technical and economic results of the studies, which included five pump tests. The topic is timely with several Latin American countries (e.g., Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico) partnering with the US in the Methane to Markets Initiative (M2M). Valuable information was obtained from pump tests relative to the impacts of climate, waste type, and leachate management practices. Economic analyses focused on projects benefiting from electricity sales as well as revenues from carbon finance through the sale of certified emissions reductions (CERs). Depending on the price of energy in a given country, CER sales may or may not be necessary for a successful project. Mexico, for example, has high electricity tariffs that are favorable to LFGTE. With the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the requisite number of nations, many carbon finance projects are being pursued in Latin America. Such project development includes participation by a variety of American and Canadian firms from engineering to finance to equipment supply. Methane to Markets also is stimulating North American participation in Latin American LFGTE projects, albeit focused on energy and not carbon finance. This paper presents results from the pre-feasibility studies and discusses the relationship of various methane reduction programs (such as M2M and Kyoto), CER purchasers (such as World Bank, IFC, and private emissions brokers/developers), and ongoing research funding sources as related to LFG collection and recovery.