U.S. landfills likely emit more methane than models of their emissions suggest, new research finds.
In a new study using aircraft-mounted sensors to detect methane emissions, researchers discovered that 52% of the landfills studied were releasing large plumes of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. And 60% of those landfills showed persistent hotspots for months or years, suggesting that these leaks play a significant role in landfill emissions.
“Addressing and mitigating those leaks could realize a pretty substantial reduction in methane emissions from this sector, but also just in total,” says study leader Daniel Cusworth, project scientist for the nongovernmental organization Carbon Mapper, which tracks point-source emissions of methane and carbon dioxide. Landfills are responsible for about 20% of methane emissions both globally and in the U.S., according to emissions models, putting them third behind the oil and gas industry and agriculture for methane emissions.
Methane makes up 12% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but it is 28 times more effective at trapping heat over a century than the same amount of carbon dioxide. Landfills release...
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