92443
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Monterrey                                                        April 24, 2006
Methane Gas Capture and Use at a Landfill - Demonstration Project


Background                                                    Financing
Like many developing nations, Mexico faces serious            Total cost : US$13.25 million
difficulties in managing solid waste.  The country
generates about 99,000 tons of solid waste every              Global Environment Facility Grant:
                                                              US$6.27 million
day, yet only 54.5 % is disposed  under sanitary
conditions on landfills and an additional 10.5 %              United Mexican States, Banobras:
under controlled conditions (not on landfills). 32%           US$0.4 million
are disposed under un-controlled conditions and
only 3% is being recycled. Open dumping is the                Other private commercial sources:
                                                              US$6.58 million
most common solid waste disposal method in
small- and medium-sized cities in Mexico.  This               Implementation period:  Expected May
creates health, safety and environmental problems             2001 - June 2006
in the affected communities. 
                                                              Geographical area: Monterrey
                                                              metropolitan area

With World Bank assistance, the Government of                 Implementing agencies: Sistema
Mexico has initiated a program to address some of             Metropolitano de Procesamiento de
the underlying causes of poor solid waste                     Desechos Sólidos (Monterrey), Federal
management. The program is helping to introduce               Secretary of Social Development
                                                              (SEDESOL)
more effective practices and incentives for solid
waste management by strengthening federal and                 More details
local regulations and institutions. The program will
also help draw up a comprehensive recycling plan.              Full project information & documents

                                                           
As a complement to this program, the Global
Environmental Facility is financing a Methane Gas          
Capture and Use at a Landfill – Demonstration
Project, based in the city of Monterrey.  This             
project will focus on incorporating landfill gas
capture and use into solid waste management                
practices.  It will result in immediate reductions in
                                                           
greenhouse gas emissions.
                                                           
Objective
                                                           
Support the design and implementation of a system
to capture and utilize landfill gas, at landfills          
developed under the solid waste management
program. These systems will avoid the emission of          
methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, to the
atmosphere and will reduce high carbon fuel                
consumption through the use of Landfill Gas (LFG)
as a fossil fuel substitute. The project will serve as
a model for integrating greenhouse gas control
measures in solid waste management programs in
other Mexican municipalities.

Project Design

The main project activities include:

       Designing and building a landfill gas
       collection system and a 7 megawatt power
       plant at a 44 hectares closed cell at the
       Sistema Metropolitano de Procesamiento de
       Desechos Solidos landfill in Monterrey,
       through a public-private partnership.
       Building the capacity of federal, state and
       local government entities, as well as private
       contractors, to promote and manage this kind     PLANT - The methane gas capture plant in
                                                        Monterrey.
       of project.
       Funding technical studies in order to include
       biogas management in national legislation.
       Execution of regional dissemination program.
       Development of national replication strategy.

Expected impact

       Operation of the Monterrey plant will result
       in the capture of 214 million cubic meters of
       methane.
       Energy produced by the plant will also
       substitute other energy sources that use
       fossil fuels, thus reducing greenhouse gas
       emissions from these sources.
       If the demonstration project is successful, it
       will encourage the construction of more
       plants in Mexico and Latin America.

Progress to date

The plant started operation in September 2003 and
has resulted in the destruction of nearly 600,000
tons equivalent of CO2 (as of March 30, 2006) and
the generation of about 150,000 GWh.  The
replication strategy has resulted in the development
of at least three more sites, supported through
carbon finance under the Kyoto Protocol.
April 2006