Purposes of this Funding Guide
Through the over 400 operational landfill gas energy (LFGE) projects, communities, landfill owners and operators, and state officials across the United States have learned that landfill gas is an important local and regional resource. To develop LFGE projects, landfill owners and operators capture landfill gas and convert it into renewable energy. Converting landfill gas into energy reduces odors and hazards associated with landfill gas emissions and helps reduce reliance on fossil fuel-based energy. Landfill gas is also a valuable renewable resource that, when used, helps prevent landfill methane from migrating into the atmosphere and contributing to local smog and global climate change.
While landfill gas recovery offers significant environmental, energy, and economic benefits to the public and private sector, there are still barriers to project development. This funding guide focuses on one barrier in particular-financing for landfill gas project development.
Included in this funding guide are many innovative funding programs and strategies that can help developers overcome financial barriers. These programs and strategies include, among other things, loans, grants, renewable portfolio standards, renewable energy trust funds, and property, sales, and use tax exemptions. Whether you are a state agency official, a landfill owner or operator, or a developer, the programs described in this guidebook will provide you with important information as you consider ways to facilitate and/or develop successful LFGE projects.
The funding guide is not intended to provide an exhaustive listing of all state, federal, and foundation funding programs available for LFGE projects; instead, it is intended to provide information about a broad range of the types of funding options available for LFGE projects. This guide is also intended to provide examples of successful funding approaches that can be replicated around the country to promote LFGE. LMOP continually revises this Web site to update information about programs and resources and to include information on new initiatives.
The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE)  is managed by LMOP State Partner North Carolina Solar Center, and provides a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy, including landfill gas.
How to Use this Funding Guide
The types of funding covered in this funding guide include:
Grants. Grants provide direct financial support and are usually awarded by government and non-profit agencies.
Loans. Loans are arrangements in which a lender (e.g., a government agency or a non-profit organization) provides money to a borrower (e.g., an LFGE project developer), and the borrower agrees to repay the money, along with interest, at some future date.
Tax credits and exemptions, which reduce the tax liability of eligible parties.
Production incentives, which are financial payments, usually on a cents-per-kWh basis, for electricity generated by qualifying LFGE facilities.
Each resource entry contains the following information:
- Program Description — This section contains background information about the program, as well as program guidelines and requirements, such as eligibility (applicant and technology), funding availability, and deadlines (if applicable).
- For More Information — This section contains contact information for each funding source, including contact name, address, phone and fax numbers, e-mail address, and Web site address, if available.
The Renewable Portfolio Standards section contains information about state RPS programs that include landfill gas as an eligible resource.
Actions You Can Take
If you are interested in developing a landfill gas energy project, use this guidebook to identify funding sources and incentives for which your project might be eligible. Use the Web address provided for each program to read more detailed information about the funding opportunity or incentive or to download online application materials. If you have additional questions about project eligibility or the application process, contact the program representative using the e-mail address or phone number provided.
If you are a state agency employee, you can use this guide to review other states’ programs that fund or encourage the use of landfill gas as a renewable energy source, and consider whether your state could benefit from similar programs. You might find it valuable to speak to the program administrators in other states (listed in the “For More Information” section of each program profiled in the guidebook) to speak to them about their experiences and lessons learned in funding LFGE projects and administering their program. If you are working directly with parties interested in developing LFGE projects, use the guidebook to identify applicable funding mechanisms and incentives in your state, as well as federal programs that might be applicable. Also, you may contact LMOP, using the information below, to talk about LMOP’s activities in your state.
LMOP Wants to Hear from You!
This guidebook is a “living” document that will be updated and expanded periodically. If you know of an option or resource that should be added, or if you have suggestions about how to make this document more useful, please contact:
Victoria Ludwig
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Landfill Methane Outreach Program
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
202-343-9291
E-mail: ludwig.victoria@epa.gov
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