This study used mobile surveys of 10 Canadian landfills to assess how methane emissions varied across different landfill sources and operational conditions. The studied landfills included 2 closed landfills, 4 open landfills equipped with Gas Collection and Control Systems (GCCS), and 4 open landfills operating without GCCS. We employed the Gaussian dispersion model to estimate emission fluxes using on-site and off-site transect data. We observed high spatial variability of methane emissions and identified the sources that contributed significantly to overall landfill emissions, sources including the active face, closed cells, compost areas, leachate systems, and GCCS. At open sites, active face emissions ranged from 14.6 to 462.3 kg h−1, with standard deviations of up to ±208.1 kg h−1. Other source areas, such as closed cells (final and intermediate cover) and compost facilities, generally emitted 1 to approximately 125.4 kg h−1. Overall, we found that the active face of landfills is a major emitter of methane, contributing 76% of the total emissions for landfills with GCCS and 38% at those without GCCS. The results underscore the importance of improved monitoring and management strategies at landfill active faces to more effectively mitigate methane emissions from landfills.
Omidi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.