‘Garbage Lasagna’: Dumps Are a Big Driver of Warming, Study Says
www.nytimes.com
Decades of buried trash is releasing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, at higher rates than previously estimated, the researchers said.

The study measured methane emissions at about 20 percent of about 1,200 large, operating landfills in the United States. It adds to a growing body of evidence that landfills are a significant driver of climate change, said Riley Duren, founder of the public-private partnership Carbon Mapper, who took part in the study.

“We’ve largely been in the dark, as a society, about actual emissions from landfills,” said Mr. Duren, a former NASA engineer and scientist. “This study pinpoints the gaps.”

  • Bleeping LobsterEnglish
    5•7 months ago

    I’ve always thought… Why can’t we put a perspex dome or something like thick clingfilm over a landfill site, and tap the methane?

    • @[email protected]OPM
      7•7 months ago

      You can cap a landfill and collect the methane, but there usually isn’t enough for it to pay to pipe it anywhere. As such, tends to be flared on-site when something like that is installed.