What can we all learn about being a part of the climate solution from an NGO celebrating clean energy in NYC?
A wise person once said, “There is no waste in nature.” So, why do we live in a society where waste is everywhere? Take for instance landfill waste. “You can take any kind of organic waste, capture… and turn it into a fuel,” says Joanna Underwood. Instead of honing in on the negatives of a country with 3,000 active landfills averaging around 292 million pounds of waste yearly, she is part of a select few who see an opportunity to turn all of that waste into something we need and use every day- energy. Earlier this month, several of these game changers were honored in a ceremony hosted by the NGO Energy Vision for their vision to reduce waste through circular models inspired by nature.
The event, Energy Vision’s 18th annual Leadership Awards, was held in NYC (home to more than 1.2 billion pounds of food waste). Three awards were given to South Jersey Industries(SJI), LoCI Controls and Landfill Group, and Energy Vision’s founder and lifelong environmental advocate Joanna Underwood. Each awardee was chosen for their trailblazing projects to reduce waste and cut methane emissions.
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SJI’s Linden Renewable Energy project, an anaerobic digester, will process food waste from the New York region and capture the methane from escaping into the atmosphere. Earlier this year Senator Edward J. Markey commended SJI for their developments that, “have reduced landfill emissions by four million tons of CO2e in just a few years.” LoCI Controls and Landfill Group were awarded for their initiative to capture methane biogas from landfills. The third award went to Joanna Underwood for her research that sparked national interest in the organic waste-to-fuel strategy.
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Members of Energy Vision board pose for a photo during the 2024 Energy Vision Annual Awards Reception at ILA Penthouse in New York, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)
Energy Vision’s Joanna Underwood and Matt Tomich during the 2024 Energy Vision Annual Awards Reception at ILA Penthouse in New York, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)
All of the awardees’ initiatives are pollution-prevention strategies that can significantly contribute to reducing methane emissions. It’s one of the second-largest contributors to global warming. Over a 20-year period, methane is eighty times more potent at global warming than carbon dioxide. And, it’s accounted for 30% of the global warming since pre-industrial times. It’s also a major contributor to ground level ozone which is estimated to cause 1 million premature deaths yearly.
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One silver lining is that as potent as it is, methane only takes 10 years to break down versus the 20 years for carbon dioxide. Its impact is also one of the easiest to mitigate out of the greenhouse gases, because an estimated 60% of methane emissions stem from human activity. Landfill waste is one of the top three contributors, behind agriculture and fossil fuels. “We need to think about these [landfills] as resources, not as waste. And, really that’s the key to enabling all of this,” explains Matthew P. Tomich, Energy Vision’s President.
Reducing methane emissions now would have an impact in the near term and is critical for helping to keep the world on a path to 1.5°C. That’s why 158 countries, including the U.S, have signed the Global Methane Pledge to rapidly reduce methane emissions. All of the 2024 Energy Vision awardees have played leadership roles in helping our administrations to meet these goals. “We just did a study at Energy Vision looking at the actual steps this country can take to reduce its very potent greenhouse gas and methane emissions by 30% by 2030,” Joanna said, hopeful for the future.
A Vision For The Future
Energy Vision’s Joanna Underwood poses for a photo during the start of the 2024 Energy Vision Annual Awards Reception at ILA Penthouse in New York, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)
Guests from the Landfill Group and LoCI Controls during the 2024 Energy Vision Annual Awards Reception at ILA Penthouse in New York, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)
For more than 30 years, Joanna has been helping cities turn waste into fuel. This vision began during a trip to Norway when she was riding buses in Oslo. “It was fueled by gases taken from their wastewater treatment and sewage plant. It didn’t have any smell. It was just a clean non-fossil fuel made from waste,” she says of the inspiration for clean energy in the U.S. “I rode on those buses and I was excited. When I came back I went to the Department of Energy and asked, ‘why aren’t we looking into this? We should look into this.’ That was an idea that we brought here.”
This circular model has been adopted by other companies like SJI who’s Linden Renewable Energy (LRE) project, now under construction, will be one of the largest of its kind once completed. The facility will convert up to 1,475 tons of waste to produce the energy equivalent value of 30,200 gallons of gasoline per day. “Take any kind of organic waste; when it dies it emits methane,” Joanna says. “You can take all that methane now and capture it in these tanks called anaerobic digesters and do what they did in Oslo- refine it and turn it into a fuel.”
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Food scraps can be turned into compost to add nutrients to your garden and houseplants or into energy fuel through commercial compost systems.
Image: Greta Hoffman
Reducing methane in the global food system is essential to achieving the 1.5°C goal. Yet, since many of us don’t grow our own food, the action steps come in the form of how we choose our food and dispose of it. To reduce our methane footprint we can shop from our farmers market to support local food industries where food has traveled a shorter distance. We can also compost to prevent food becoming landfill waste that will create methane emissions.
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“In New York City, close to 30% of the waste stream is organic,” Matthew states. “At the household level even, city wide composting is a huge step in the right direction to empower people to do their part.” New York City’s new composting initiatives will help divert 3.9 million tons of food waste from landfills. As a current Seattle resident, Matthew sees initiatives like these as second-nature now that he lives in a state that has committed to reducing organic waste in landfills. And, he is hopeful that the rest of the country will follow suit. “To see New York, the largest city in the country to roll them out is a big deal. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.”
There is also an opportunity to reduce methane and CO2 emissions by investing in renewable energy sources for your home like solar panels. More than 50% of the electricity in the U.S is estimated to come from coal-fire powered plants. And, methane is released from coal mines. Alternatively, reducing your energy consumption by line-drying clothing, turning off lights when you leave a room, or avoiding blasting your heating and cooling systems are all ways to reduce your energy consumption and methane emissions too.
All in all, from governments to companies to consumers, we all have an active role to play in fighting climate change and securing a better, cooler, future.
