In my area i compost nearly everything including citrus peels. Citrus peels are one of the last things that break down into compost at my location. There was an experiment conducted on some worn out property using only orange peels for compost i think you might enjoy
I wish every town/city/state/country would do this instead of send food waste to the landfill.
We compost all our food waste
Composting food waste is required by law in California. You can either do it at your property or place it in green barrels supplied by the municipal refuse company.
My pile that will be finished for spring/summer use on the left… and a pile we are still adding to on the right… which will be finished by next spring.
I’m going to throw some citrus peels in my garden as mulch now. But here are my compost bins for a small garden.
Those composters are a good candidate for methane production https://growingfruit.org/t/small-scale-methane-generator-for-propane-and-natural-gas-replacement/40809
They have worms in there, but I just want to keep it simple. So far I buy very little dirt. In the past I did, but this year thanks to inflation I’m recycling my clay instead.
Methane can be dangerous.
yes but almost nobody harvests the gas diy, the easiest way is to collect it in a kind of big balloon, but a bit dangerous and you have to be careful not to accidentally come into contact with certain other chemicals and you should know well how to use it. it would be too dangerous for me
but it is somehow a waste not to use it
Safer build a compost heater without gas harvest
Compost in a container… just seems wierd to me.
Got lots of open space here… just pile it up (open pile) near your garden has always worked for me.
I am in no hurry for mine to get done… and dont mind critters getting a few scraps.
I have no room, but I got this idea from somebody GardenWeb years ago. But if I have it out in the open, the mice will be all over.
Got to do what works for you.
I am sure mice visit my pile… but i have never seen one there.
Maybe your compost is to hot for mice.
The worm compost with earth in it get not hot compared to a compost with only food and wood…
Your point is very valid i agree. Remember this is harvesting a waste gas that is being consumed quickly in minutes like at the site to heat water. The gas would be consumed in a few minutes. There are farms and government facilities making a lot. Not every home owner may be comfortable with being able to do this so the compost can go to a digester in the city where they process the compost and methane as was featured on pbs
It is dangerous in quantity very similar to natural gas most people use which maybe should not be used in the home at all. Methane harvesting would make a small percent that is burned off quickly. A home made digester does not make as much gas as people think. When our septic tank is pumped the waste goes to a central plant which processes the waste. These plants hopefully are all beginning to use the greenhouse gas methane as it does not need to be done at the home level.
You are correct there is some danger with methane and it should not be taken lightly either. Safety is very important i agree. Back to safety for a minute there is more we should look at that is far more dangerous than methane. The really dangerous stuff around most homes is lion Lithium-ion Safety Concerns - Battery University . Cell phones, laptops, ev cars are not safe when these batteries are broken.
Power lines are not safe but maybe not more dangerous. Certainly oil and gasoline for an automobile or lawnmower is far more dangerous than any of these on a daily basis. In New Jersey a homeowner is not allowed to handle gasoline for this reason. You cannot pump gasoline there. More fumes comes off when people fill their gas tank in minutes than fumes a digester would make in a day, week or in some cases month. Most people dont think of that in that way. People caused thousands of garbage truck fires from improper disposal of batteries or tube tvs. There is more i could say about many things. The point of being safe is accurate just like when we ignite the burner on a gas stove it is nearly the same gas.
The Dangers of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitors and Televisions - NEDT.
Mine is not too hot… (lazy pile type composting) weed, tomato, and other seeds regularly survive.
I turn it over 4 or 5 times after it sits for a year undisturbed.
Think it is something in climates that are dry part of the time i have the same issues. We compost anyway but the rodents get in there they love it. More concerning is we have a huge number of insects that get into compost.
Thanks for the detailed description. and the safty warnings
there is so much to warn about.
don’t leave a bottle of linseed oil open.
do not put lithium ion batteries in the wrong charger
…
i would just feel uncomfortable having a methane ethane… tank in the backyard.
but i’m still thinking about making a big compost pile to heat a small greenhouse in winter or use the heat for the ground for bananas or something 
Your not wrong we use propane in this area. When i was a child i had a neighbors house that got hit by lightening. The electric lines dropped on the propane tank and the yard began to burn. The fire fighters are brave indeed. It started to poor rain which put out the fire thankfully as the fire department was showing up. Imagine being the fire fighter that saw those electric lines laying over the propane tank and everything smoking. Waited for ignition but it never happened. Those tanks are pretty safe. When i was very small my friend was killed by an electric line during a storm. It was knocked down on sheet tin which she was standing on. She was looking for her cats.
Please…. :X Not everybody sees it as warning
