This document discusses the Podere Rota landfill and biogas recovery plant located in Tuscany, Italy. It is operated by CSAI Spa, which manages two landfills for non-hazardous waste. The Podere Rota landfill receives over 180,000 tons of waste annually and has an established system to capture the biogas produced during waste decomposition using wells and pipelines. The biogas is used to generate electricity through cogeneration facilities, producing over 24 million kWh of clean energy in 2011 to supply over 9,000 homes. CSAI partners with the University of Florence on research projects to improve biogas quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills.

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UPGAS-LOWCO2
LIFE08/ENV/IT/000429
Podere Rota plant
Mr. Aldo Ferretti – Communication officer
Centro Servizi Ambiente Impianti SpA
25 Maggio 2012 – TERRAFUTURA- Firenze - Italy
Processi innovativi per l’upgrading del bioags – Innovative processes for biogas upgrading

2. Podere Rota is a solid waste
landfill with biogas recovery plant
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3. Where we are
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In the Municipality of Terranuova Bracciolini,
at the border between the provinces of
Arezzo and Florence, along the valley of the
Arno River and the A1 Highway

4. Who we are
CSAI Spa - Centro
Servizi Ambiente
Impianti is a joint
stock company in
public-private joint
venture, with the
following shareholding
structure
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5. What we do
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CSAI Spa owns and operates two
landfills in the province of Arezzo
for non-hazardous solid waste
(municipal and industrial), one
in the municipality of Terranuova
Bracciolini, called "Podere Rota“,
the other in the Municipality of
Castiglion Fibocchi,
called “Il Pero".

6. The company, through ownership of shares of capital
stock of other companies, is involved in many
operations of the waste cycle management, therefore
not limited to the sole disposal activities but also to
the recovery of materials and energy.
CSAI Spa also participates in the
creation of a Wind farm in the
Municipality of Talla (AR)
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7. How we operate
CSAI spa has achieved certification of its quality
system according to ISO 9001 standard and the
certification of its environmental management
system following ISO 14001 and EMAS standard
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8. CSAI spa and the Research
Managing our landfills, we tried to answer to the
following questions:
•how to improve the biogas quality to optimize energy
production and to explore new possibilities of use;
•how to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and
odors into the atmosphere.
Hence the long-standing partnership
with the Department of energy at
Florence University
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9. With the University of Florence have been especially
developed several research projects:
•GHERL - "GreenHouse Effect from Landfill Gas
Reduction» LIFE05-ENV/IT/000874 (concluded).
•UPGAS LOWCO2 - "Up-grading of landfillGAS for
Lowering CO2 Emissions" LIFE08/IT/000429 (in
conclusion).
•Recore - Research project "Experiments on the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and landfill
odor control by covers reactive" (in progress).
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10. Podere Rota landfillPodere Rota landfill
Organized in 11 modules, 7 sold out and 4 in part under
construction and partly in operation (according to the
latest expansion project), reaches a total capacity of
approximately 5,000,000 m3
for an area of 20 hectares.​​
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11. The waste disposal:
Total waste received in 2011: 186,368 tons186,368 tons
• 18,650 tons. of Solid Waste "as is“
•139,568 tons. of Solid Waste "treated“
• 21,514 tons. Special Waste not hazardous
• 6,636 tons. Waste to Recover
The landfill handles waste generated each year
by about 250,000 people
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12. As all landfills which dispose of waste
with biodegradable component, also
Podere Rota is equipped with a system
for collecting the biogas produced by the
decomposition of waste.
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13. The biogas recovery system
- vertical extraction wells
-horizontal collection systems and perimeter systems
-secondary lines connecting the extraction wells
-local connecting stations between the main and secondary
manifolds
-major collectors
-traps placed on the
conveyor lines
-extraction and control
unit from which the
biogas is sent to the energy recovery or to the torch.
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14. Each existing well is made with a drill hole diameter
of 600 mm. The wells are equipped with a head of
uptake with shut-off valve, connected to the intake
manifold and equipped with a steam trap. Each well
has a radius of influence of about 20 m.
The network of uptake is currently equipped with
160 wells of biogas, 12 substations adjustment and
4 main headers that convey the gas to the suction
plant.
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15. The plant annually uptake of about 18-20 million18-20 million
cubic meters of biogascubic meters of biogas produced from fermentable
waste with a high efficiency of uptake,
demonstrated by the studies conducted for 4 years
in collaboration with the Department of Energy
Engineering at the University of Florence.
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16. The renewable energy
The data confirm the production of electrical energy
efficient performance of the system. The recovery of
the biogas produced from waste is currently constituted
by 6 motors for the production of electrical energy (two
are from 625 kWh, three from 836 kWh and one from
1000 kWh). The energy is sold to ENEL then fed into
the national grid. As renewable energy receives
economic incentives from Government.
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17. Thanks to the recovery
of landfill biogas and
cogeneration facilities,
in 2011 Podere Rota
has produced and sold
well to the national grid
24,600,000 kWh of
clean energy, equal to
average annual
electricity needs of over
9,100 households.
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