Utilizing landfill gas (LFG) to electrify digital data centers in China for accelerating energy transition in Industry 4.0 era

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production 2022-10, Vol.369, p.133297, Article 133297
• Main Authors: Liang, Xue, Goh, Hui Hwang, Kurniawan, Tonni Agustiono, Zhang, Dongdong, Dai, Wei, Liu, Hui, Liu, Jiefeng, Goh, Kai Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Circular economy; Cleaner production; GHG; Renewable energy; Resource recovery; Zero-waste
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133297

The volume of landfill gas (LFG) produced during municipal solid waste (MSW) decomposition in local landfills has increased rapidly in recent years. To promote circular economy (CE) applications through resource recovery, this article investigates the feasibility of utilizing LFG as a sustainable energy to power data centers (DCs) in Xiamen (China) and evaluates the implications of waste heat reuse on the energy consumption of DC. The objective of this study was to investigate the environmental impacts and economic benefits of this scheme based on a SFC model. With respect to its novelty, LFG is utilized as an energy supply to DCs, while the waste heat generated in the energy production is recovered. The socio-economic benefits generated in this process are also elaborated. It was found that a large number of MSW was completely recycled to generate energy. The LFG enterprise could benefit from energy sale, while the energy satisfied the annual demand for DC power consumption. Utilizing this energy output resulted in the reduction of primary energy and less CO₂ emissions. By reusing the waste heat for domestic heating, the energy efficiency could be improved, while primary energy could be further saved, avoiding more CO₂ emissions. This implies that utilizing LFG output and waste heat to power DCs not only facilitate resource recovery from unused resources to improve energy efficiency and obtain socio-economic benefits, but also promote the digitalization of DCs and sustainable development of urban cities in the framework of CE. [Display omitted] •LFG can be used to power data centers (DCs) in order to promote CE.•The recovery of waste heat from LFG generation reduced CO2 emission of 8.46 × 108kg.•Within 15 years, 4.97 ×1010 kg of MSW can generate 4.65 × 109 kW ⋅ h of electricity.•The recovery of waste heat benefited landfill operators and DC firms financially.