Latin America’s largest dump sits high in the mountains above Bogotá. Called Doña Juana, the vast landfill produces prodigious amounts of methane, which rises from decomposing garbage through more than 400 stone chimneys into the clear Andean air. Methane is over 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse culprit, and the methane streaming skyward makes dumps like Doña Juana sizable contributors to climate change. But experts here hope that by capturing the gas and using it to generate electricity, they can help address climate change and provide free or subsidized power to tens of thousands of people living in neighboring shantytowns. Such plans already are becoming reality in Latin America. Several methane-capture projects are underway at... [Log in to read more]