INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
There have been more than 1,000 huge leaks of the potent greenhouse gas methane from landfill waste dumps since 2019, the Guardian can
reveal.Analysis of global satellite data from around the world shows the populous nations of south Asia are a hotspot for these
super-emitter events, as well as Argentina and Spain, developed countries where proper waste management should prevent leaks.Landfills emit
methane when organic waste such as food scraps, wood, card, paper and garden waste decompose in the absence of oxygen
Methane, also called natural gas, traps 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over 20 years, making it a critical target
Scientists have said emissions from unmanaged landfills could double by 2050 as urban populations grow, blowing the chance of avoiding
climate catastrophe.A total of 1,256 methane super-emitter events occurred between January 2019 and June 2023, according to the new data
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh lead the list of nations with the most large leaks, followed by Argentina, Uzbekistan and Spain.Landfill
emissions can be reduced by creating less organic waste in the first place, diverting it away from landfill, or at least capturing some of
the methane that is being released from the landfills
Action to stem methane leaks slows global heating faster than almost any other measure and is often low-cost, with some measures even paying
for themselves when the captured gas is sold as fuel.Methane emissions have accelerated since 2007 and cause a third of the global heating
driving the climate crisis today
The acceleration has alarmed scientists, who fear it is the biggest threat to keeping below 1.5C of global heating and could trigger
catastrophic climate tipping points
of human-caused methane emissions even more urgent.Decomposing waste is responsible for about 20% of human-caused methane emissions
Fossil fuel operations cause 40% of emissions, and the Guardian revealed there were more than 1,000 super-emitter events from oil, gas and
coal sites in 2022 alone, many of which could be easily fixed
Cattle and paddy fields cause the other 40% of emissions.Prof Euan Nisbet, a methane expert at Royal Holloway University of London, said:
the global methane pledge made by 150 countries to cut 30% of methane emissions by 2030 could not be achieved without tackling emissions
unmanaged dumps.Antoine Halff, a co-founder of the company Kayrros, which provided the satellite image analysis to the Guardian, said:
Kayrros uses orbits the planet 14 times a day and provides global coverage, giving the location of a leak to within about six miles
Higher-resolution satellites that orbit less frequently can pinpoint the waste facilities responsible.Trash mountainsDelhi, the capital of
India, has had at least 124 super-emitter events from city landfills since 2020
Dr Richa Singh, of the Centre for Science and Environment in the city, said that while methane leaks from the global oil and gas industry
climate crisis, making methane cuts especially important, she said
Furthermore, cleaning up landfills would end the fires and serious air and water pollution they cause.Methane is generated in landfill dumps
when waste food and other organic material is decomposed by microbes in an oxygen-depleted environment
Properly managed waste systems either divert organic material from landfills into biodigesters that produce methane fuel, or cover the
landfills and capture the gas
Burning converts methane to CO2, a much less powerful greenhouse gas.The worst event in India occurred in April 2022 in Delhi, with methane
poured into the atmosphere at a rate of 434 tonnes an hour
Methane fires ignite regularly, she said, sending air pollution including carcinogens across entire cities.An outburst near Lahore in
Pakistan in February leaked at 214 tonnes an hour, equivalent to 34m car exhausts
The assessment of methane leaks in Bangladesh is complicated because illegal tapping of gas pipes is commonplace, causing major leaks in
urban areas that can be hard to distinguish from landfill emissions.Symbolic failureIn most developed nations, regulation of landfill sites
means super-emitter events are avoided
However, Argentina is an exception, with 100 super-emitter events from waste sites in the capital, Buenos Aires, since 2019
The worst was in August 2020 when 230 tonnes an hour was emitted, equivalent to running 36m cars.One major site, the Norte III landfill, is
wedged between working-class neighbourhoods in the north of Buenos Aires
Rubbish trucks crawl over the top of its giant earth-covered mounds and the pungent smell and the toxic dying rivers in the vicinity are
a waste management specialist at the University of Buenos Aires
uncovered new waste piles may be the source of the emissions
Norte III could use temporary covers in the open area, said Prof Ilse Aben at the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), who was
part of that study.The Norte III site is run by Ceamse, a private company belonging to the government of the province of Buenos Aires
He said an uncovered face in the dump was necessary because 2,000 lorries a day emptied their waste there.Ceamse said in 2021 that new
equipment would lead to emissions dropping
But they had not fallen by late 2022, with the company blaming the rising amounts of waste being dumped
approved the signing of an agreement with the Global Methane Hub foundation to use satellite images to improve the management of
four major leaks in the first half of 2023
extraction plants also operate to capture methane
which operates the major waste facilities in the area, said other landfills it did not control in the wider Madrid region could be
responsible, and that satellite estimates were not as reliable as ground measurements
It said large leaks at the biogas plant would have been detected and that all the plants met all environmental regulations.At the Las
Dehesas site, the officials said about 20% of methane was estimated to escape and that this was a normal level for a controlled landfill
and robotic inspections to gather data by the end of 2024.Detecting methane super-emitters with satellites is more difficult in tropical
regions as high levels of water vapour and clouds in the atmosphere interfere with the measurements
So super-emitters in central Africa and south-east Asia may not be picked up, although new satellites being deployed will improve detection
nations have dealt with major methane leaks from waste dumps, although some concerns remain about biodigesters, which in the UK for example
have been found to leak 4% of their gas.The lack of action elsewhere is as much to do with the low profile of the waste sector as to do with
there has been a drastic change in the way we see waste
and about a third of old landfill waste had been treated so far
This involves excavating the dumps, aerating the organic waste to break it down to CO2, using burnable waste as fuel and taking the
remaining non-toxic material for aggregate in building.Even if global heating does not always inspire action, cleaning up cities does, said
Instead, a new biomethane plant can produce 17 tonnes of methane fuel a day.The city has also remediated 40 hectares (100 acres) of landfill
and is replacing most of it with a city forest
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
