Gases from landfill sites are a major source of air pollution.
Korean researchers have developed a technology for converting such greenhouse gases into green energy …to help tackle climate change.
Park Se-young has more.
Landfills produce methane and carbon dioxide, which are both greenhouse gases.
Some large landfills build electricity production facilities and utilize these waste gases, …but around 75 percent of landfills nationwide are small or medium-sized.
Now, Korean researchers have developed a way to convert the emissions from these landfills into synthetic gas, then into methanol and green gas using plasma technology.

"By using thermal energy derived from plasma for catalysts, we're studying whether we can reduce the costs of the process."

The researchers have secured the technology for controlling plasma and boosted thermal efficiency by about 30 percent to 76 percent.
By doing so, they were able to convert up to 99 percent of methane and carbon dioxide into green gas.
Using a vortex to spin the plasma also maximizes the efficiency of the process and cuts costs to one-tenth what they were previously.
The researchers plan to raise the technology's business value through the operation of demonstration plants and are looking to enter overseas markets.
The study was published in the journal Plasma Processes and Polymers.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.