In the United States (US), Archaea Energy, a bp company has announced the official startup of its largest original Archaea Modular Design (AMD) renewable natural gas (RNG) plant to date. Located in Shawnee, Kansas (KS), just outside of Kansas City, it is fully owned by Archaea and located next to a large, privately owned landfill.
Landfill gas (LFG), a natural byproduct of the decomposition of waste in landfills, is a form of greenhouse gas (GHG).
Using the Archaea Modular Design (AMD), the Shawnee plant captures the gas from the landfill and upgrades it to renewable natural gas (RNG).
The Shawnee plant, which is three times the size of Archaea’s first AMD plant in Medora, Indiana brought online in October 2023, can process 9,600 standard cubic feet of landfill gas per minute (scfm) into RNG – enough gas to heat around 38,000 homes annually, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Landfill Gas Energy Benefits Calculator.
This represents another significant milestone for Archaea. A plant of this size can have a positive impact in capturing emissions from a landfill and providing our customers with lower carbon fuel. We are excited to be operating in Kansas – a state with an exceptional record in renewable energy, said Starlee Sykes, CEO at Archaea Energy.
Traditionally, RNG plants have been custom-built but the AMD allows plants to be built on skids with interchangeable components.
Using a standardized modular design leads to faster builds than previous industry standards. AMD plants are designed to come in three sizes – 3,200 scfm; 6,400 scfm; and 9,600 scfm.
After acquiring Archaea Energy in 2022, bp is now the largest producer of RNG in the US. In 2023, bp’s global biogas supply volumes were up 80 percent year-on-year, reflecting the Archaea uplift.
