Efficiency still underpins sustainability

Italian landfill increases biogas production by 32% with stabilizers and Emerson’s Movicon HMI/SCADA software

July 31, 2026

2 min read

Key Highlights

Zero3 improved biogas production by 32%, reduced emissions by 7,800 tonnes and enabled remote operations using Emerson’s Movicon SCADA software.
Automated gas stabilizers and real-time data collection enhance landfill safety, efficiency and revenue while minimizing manual interventions.
Suncom Energy’s CSP system with Movicon software helped a Dutch farm cut energy consumption by 20% with solar power for sustainable agricultural processes.

Figure 1: Zero3 in Cesena, Italy, recently implemented biogas stabilizers at a local landfill, which increases its biogas production by up to 32%, reduces its carbon footprint by 7,800 tonnes, and protects its staff by enabling remote operations.

The first and best-known way to pursue sustainability is still process efficiency, which focuses on overall system performance over entire product lifecycles from raw materials to finished goods. For instance, waste-to-energy and biogas stabilizer developer Zero3 in Cesena recently enabled a landfill in northern Italy increase its biogas production by up to 32%, reduce its carbon footprint by 7,800 tonnes, and protect its staff by enabling remote operations (Figure 1). Not only were leaking methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the landfill foul smelling and potentially dangerous, but the landfill’s owner/operator was also losing potential revenue due to insufficient extractions and collection.

Consequently, Zero3 deployed a gas stabilizer with Emerson’s Movicon HMI/SCADA software serving as the control interface on the landfill’s biogas collection system, which includes PLCs running autonomous programs to control the stabilizers. It also deployed Movicon because its modularity lets it scale up as more wells and controllers are added. Employing Microsoft SQL server to store field data, Movicon allows real-time interaction with the landfill’s gas stabilizers machines, including remote control with only 0.05 msec latency.

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Similarly, Movicon’s alarm dispatcher permits real-time alarm responses, but it also streamlines site operations, even with fewer personnel. Also, because implementing gas stabilizers eliminates the need to manually operate biogas valves, Zero3’s solution allows continuous, automatic remote operations in real time, which maximizes gas collection efficiency at the landfill, reduces leaks and emissions, and increases useful energy production and revenue.

“Movicon for SCADA in biogas collection activities was simple and easy to use as well as versatile in our applications,” says Marco Antonini, cofounder and CEO at Zero3.

Beyond optimizing production, data collected from the landfill is also used for targeted interventions and predictive maintenance. Plus, any reduction in throughput is quickly detected, so adjustments can be made equally to maintain efficiency. Likewise, better visibility via intuitive graphics, web HMIs on mobile devices, and immediate alarm dispatches are coordinated to give the landfill’s operators and managers improved visibility and control, and enable immediate responses that also enhance safety.

Dutch farm saves 20% on energy with solar

To help a farm in Noord-Brabent, the Netherlands, switch from wood pellets to solar, Suncom Energy B.V. in Houten recently implemented its continuous, compact, clean-heating Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) solution and SunArc parabolic reflectors, which focus sunlight into receive tubes to heat water or a heat-transfer fluid (HTF) up to 425 °C. This heat is used as thermal energy or electricity to run the farm’s agricultural processes, or stored to offset intermittent renewable sources.

“Our collaboration with Emerson was transformative, reshaping our decarbonization solutions via digital transformation,” says Wout Gubbels, technical director at Suncom.

Suncom’s CSP includes Emerson’s RXi2-BP industrial PC and its Movicon HMI/SCADA software for automating processes, real-time monitoring, operations efficiency and cybersecurity. It also integrates Emerson’s Floor to Cloud industrial-automation strategy that connects factory-floor devices directly to cloud analytics to access real-time data.

These components let CSP operate its autonomous, sun-tracking mirrors to optimize sunlight concentration, perform remote monitoring on Movicon’s web client for mobile/tablet PCs, maintain multiple security layers, and simplify data clearance and intuitive interface design. In all, the farm cut its energy consumption by 20%.