First map of global methane-emitting landfills to be presented at GOP27

Why we write about this topic:

Methane is one of the main greenhouse gases that cause climate change, alongside carbon dioxide. Identifying all methane-emitting landfills can be helpful to reduce emissions. That is why Innovation Origins selected this post.

Global Methane Hub, SRON, and GHGSat are mapping the world’s largest methane-emitting landfills. The map contains over a hundred of them. The map will be presented at the climate summit in Egypt, SRON writes in a press release.

Waste management is responsible for 18 percent of global methane emissions. A large fraction of these emissions come from a small number of large landfills, making them important mitigation targets. The Global Methane Hub, SRON, and GHGSat are now joining forces to launch a world-first initiative to characterize, study, and monitor landfills around the world. The objective is to improve understanding of these sites, and initiate dialogue, and engagement towards purposeful action at the local level. The first output of this initiative, a global map showing the locations of over a hundred methane-emitting landfills, will be presented at COP27.

Ilse Aben, senior scientist at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, said: “This new research project will drastically expand the number of landfills that we can investigate with partners around the world, bringing transparency and accuracy to methane emissions from these sites. A critical step in developing the right strategies to mitigate them.”

Key to climate-neutral Europe lies with local governments – Innovation Origins

One hundred European cities want to be climate neutral by 2030 already. They have been selected by the EU for the Cities Mission. The EU has made €360 million available for this project.

1.5 million cars

A 2022 publication led by SRON showed that by combining TROPOMI and GHGSat satellite data, large landfill emissions can be detected and characterized. TROPOMI’s global coverage is used to find emission hot spots around the world after which GHGSat’s targeted high-resolution observations are used to find emissions from individual landfills within those hot spots. The study covered four landfills, including one in Buenos Aires whose emissions had a climate impact equal to that of 1.5 million cars.

Now SRON and GHGSat are expanding their collaboration in a new project financed by the Global Methane Hub. Marcelo Mena CEO of the Global Methane Hub said: “We are excited to contribute to this initiative to turn observations into tangible emission reductions, and to contribute to improving the quality of underprivileged communities exposed to mismanaged waste.”