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US EPA’s Strategy for Reducing Current Uncertainty in Quantifying Landfill Methane
Citation:
Thorneloe, S. US EPA’s Strategy for Reducing Current Uncertainty in Quantifying Landfill Methane. Intercontinental Landfill Research Symposium 2022, Asheville, NC, September 19 - 20, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation will inform researchers, industry, and regulatory authorities on EPA's research strategy to reduce current uncertainty with quantifying and mitigating landfill methane and other air pollutants from municipal solid waste landfills.
Description:
A Nature 2019 publication found that landfill methane emissions contributed 40% of total emissions as compared to oil and gas (26%) and agriculture (23%) from a survey conducted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Landfills were thought to be the 3rd largest sources and not the first. This work was conducted using aerial optical remote sensing and the findings are being repeated from measurements in other locations in North America. This presentation will provide an overview of the data from from industrial sources in CARB and how US EPA plans to build on the database helping to identify landfills that could benefit from corrective action so that methane reductions are reduction. Methane is a short-lived greenhouse gas that has a potentcy of 87 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time horizon. Near term reductions from landfills could help the US reduce carbon emissions from sources where until 2019, we did not have measurement data that allowed us to quantify total fugitive loss.