Closing the energy poverty gap in Africa using landfill gas

Abstract

Energy poverty is widespread in African countries and power generation capacity has continued to lag population and economic growth. The prospects for adding generation capacity are currently diminished as global financial institutions reduce lending for carbon-based energy developments in response to the adverse effects of climate change. Concurrently, large population centers in Africa continue to generate waste that can be utilized for power generation on competitive terms using landfill gas. Power generation from landfills also has the benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with each landfill and displacing gasoline and diesel demand from use in transportation and backup power generation. Despite these attributes, the uptake of landfill gas power across Africa has been negligible. This paper highlights economic feasibility assessments of African landfill power generation projects from literature and develops options for policymakers to boost landfill gas power penetration on the continent. It concludes by proposing guidelines to enable policymakers to recognize political and market constraints and incorporate potential solutions to these constraints into future policies.