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The use of landfill gas is considered a green fuel source because it offsets the use of environmentally damaging fuels such as oil or natural gas, destroys the heat-trapping gas methane, and the gas is generated by deposits of waste that are already in place. 450 of the 2,300 landfills in the United States have operational landfill gas ...
The time required for a methane emission to become well-mixed throughout earth's troposphere is about 1–2 years. [28] Satellite data indicate over 80% of the growth of methane emissions during 2010–2019 are tropical terrestrial emissions. [29] [30]
A gas flare produced by a landfill in Lake County, Ohio. Landfill gas is a mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill as they decompose organic waste, including for example, food waste and paper waste. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, with the remainder being mostly carbon dioxide.
Landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions in the United States, with municipal solid waste landfills representing 95 percent of this fraction. [15] [16] In the U.S., the number of landfill gas projects increased from 399 in 2005, to 594 in 2012 [17] according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
A gas flare produced by a landfill in Lake County, Ohio. Landfill gas is a mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill as they decompose organic waste, including for example, food waste and paper waste. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, with the remainder being mostly carbon dioxide.
These gases can include methane (CH 4), carbon dioxide (CO 2), hydrogen (H 2), and volatile organic compounds (there are approximately 500 others that can be present in trace forms) from the waste on site and its degradation over time. Steps must be taken to prevent this migration from the landfill site as it might enter buildings in the vicinity.
The Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) promotes the use of landfill gas, a naturally occurring byproduct of decaying landfill waste, as a sustainable energy source. [74] Besides reducing emissions, landfill gas utilization has also been credited for reductions in air pollution, improvements to health and safety conditions, and economic ...
Monitoring of the landfill gas itself can be used diagnostically. When there is concern regarding the possibility of an ongoing subsurface oxidation event, or landfill fire, the presence in the landfill gas of compounds that are more stable at the high temperatures of such an event (above 500 °C) can be evidence for such a process occurring.