Dive Brief:
- Methane gas is leaking from landfills at higher rates and more consistently than other major emitting sectors, a new report from satellite monitoring company GHGSat found. In an analysis of 13 U.S. landfills, the firm found nine landfills were underreporting their methane emissions.
- GHGSat performs multiple flyovers of dozens of sites around the world with its fleet of methane-detecting satellites. While the company began its work monitoring wells for the oil and gas sector, it's placed an increasing focus on waste, where emissions are often less sporadic but more difficult to address.
- The company plans to add four new satellites to its orbiting fleet of 12 this year and launch another five next year. GHGSat also plans to continue its research into emissions trends in the waste space.
Dive Insight:
As new technology has become more common, scientists are increasingly detecting methane emissions from landfills in excess of what models used by the U.S. EPA and other regulators can predict. That's due in part to the wide surface area of landfills and dispersed nature of gas collection and control systems, which may include dozens of wells across a facility.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that is more than 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe in the atmosphere. As such, global climate pacts have placed emphasis on reducing methane emissions. As that scrutiny has grown, regulators and environmental groups have paid more attention to the waste sector due to the consistent nature of detectable landfill methane leaks.
GHGSat has the largest satellite fleet in a growing group of companies and nonprofits looking to monitor landfill sites for greenhouse gas emissions, which includes MethaneSat and Carbon Mapper. The latter launched its Tanager-1 satellite last year.
Researchers from Canada-based GHGSat analyzed their library of data on methane detections around the globe while preparing the new report, released Wednesday. The company is looking to publish peer-reviewed research based on that data in the coming months and years, providing new insights into how conditions and practices affect the methane emissions of landfills around the world.
"We're sitting on a mountain of data at GHGSat," Jean-Francois Gauthier, senior vice president of strategy for GHGSat, said on a webinar Monday. "What we're really excited about is the ability to drive reductions now."
In 2023, the company’s satellites detected emissions totaling 378 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, with 183 million tons coming from the oil and gas sector, 103 million coming from the waste sector, 82 million coming from the mining sector and 10 million from other sources, according to the report.
But the waste sector had the highest site emissions rate — on average, waste facilities emitted 1,250 kilograms of methane per hour, compared to 245 kilograms per hour in the oil and gas sector. The waste sector also had the highest persistence rate, at 69%, meaning "detected emissions from landfills were larger and more likely to be observed repeatedly across multiple satellite passes," per the report.
That data represents the opportunity to use technology like satellites to more accurately measure methane-emitting landfills, identify leaks and reduce emissions, Gauthier said.
"This isn't necessarily an indictment of those facilities," he noted. "I think it's a sign that new technologies ... are now bringing a totally different view to landfills."
The researchers also took a closer look at their data for U.S. landfills. In 2023, GHGSat identified more than 810,000 tons of methane emissions from the waste sector. They found that landfills in the southeastern U.S. had higher methane generation rates than landfills in other regions. The researchers theorized the states' hot, wet climate could be contributing to those generation rates, though they noted waste composition and policy may also play a role.
In fact, the company found that states with organics diversion policies and other measures to specifically address landfill methane recorded lower average emissions from landfills. Those states include California, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Oregon.
GHGSat has already begun partnering with private waste companies to provide its monitoring services. Gauthier said many operators are interested in getting a better look at their landfill emissions now to stay ahead of tightening policies both at the federal level, including in the U.S. and Canada, and the state level, with Colorado likely the next state to set more stringent standards.
"Overall there's an understanding that regulations move in one direction and it's important to get ahead of the game and start understanding things now," Gauthier said. "Take action now and it will pay off later."
Several major waste companies have made tackling landfill emissions a priority, including through their sustainability goals. Doing so also has a monetary benefit, as captured methane can be used for power generation or to produce renewable natural gas.
In an analysis of five U.S. landfills included in the report, GHGSat found that capturing methane to produce natural gas could generate more than $1 million in revenue per site annually.
