Landfill Aftercare Forum
Thursday 9 June 2016
REGULATING LANDFILLS USING
MEASURED METHANE EMISSIONS
Mark Bourn
Environment Agency
Content
Can we quantify methane emissions from
landfills?
How could we use methane emission
measurements to regulate landfills?
Would using methane emission
measurements improve landfill regulation?
Measuring methane emissions
Differential Absorption Lidar - DIAL
Tracer gas dispersion
Unmanned aerial vehicles - UAVs
DIAL Differential Absorption LiDAR
DIAL Technique
Tracer gas dispersion method
Unmanned aerial vehicle method
How can we use the methane emission
measurements?
Generated
How can we use the methane emission
measurements?
Emitted
Collected
Oxidised
Generated
CH4 generated = CH4 oxidised + CH4 emitted + CH4 collected
Landfill methane balance
CH4 generated = CH4 oxidised + CH4 emitted + CH4 collected
Generated Not known - can be modelled but not measured
Oxidised
Not known - no standard whole site method
Emitted
Not known - but can be measured
Collected
Known - routinely measured
Methane collection index
Use the known methane collection rate with the
measured rate of methane emissions
Calculate a methane collection index – MCI
MCI = CH4 collected /(CH4 emitted + CH4 collected)
Measured methane emissions
0
500
1000
1500
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
J-DIAL
J-TG
M-DIAL
M-TG
N-TG
O-TG 1
O-TG 2
Methane emission kg/hour
2000
2500
3000
Measured methane emissions and collection
0
500
1000
1500
2000
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
J-DIAL
J-TG
M-DIAL
M-TG
N-TG
O-TG 1
O-TG 2
Methane emission kg/hour
Methane collection kg/hour
2500
3000
Methane collection index
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0.28
A
0.76
B
0.40
C
D
0.85
E
0.62
F
0.62
G
0.47
H
0.28
0.43
I
0.82
J
0.73
K
0.79
L
0.84
J-DIAL
0.90
J-TG
M-DIAL
M-TG
0.57
0.68
0.65
N-TG
O-TG 1
O-TG 2
0.64
0.73
Methane emission kg/hour
Methane collection kg/hour
MCI = CH4collected /(CH4emitted + CH4collected)
How can we use the methane
collection index for regulation?
MCI
1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
J
K
L
J-DIAL
J-TG
N-TG
O-TG 1
O-TG 2
Possible regulatory approach
Annual methane emission measurements
Modern permits already contain this requirement
Flexibility on the measurement method
Calculation of the methane collection index
Comparison of the MCI to a limit
An action plan for improvements in landfill
gas management
But would this approach improve
landfill regulation?
Closed sites
Sites with active landfill gas collection
Methane oxidation
Variation in methane emissions
Setting a limit for the MCI
Conclusions
Can we quantify methane emissions from
landfills?
Yes, but further validation work is needed
How could we use methane emission
measurements to regulate landfills?
Combining the emission with the rate of collection
gives an effective measure of performance
Conclusions
Would using methane emission
measurements improve landfill regulation?
Yes, this could provide a significant contribution to
reducing methane emissions from landfills
But we need to understand the variability in
emissions
Could support rather than replace the current
approach to regulation
Thank you