Environment Agency, Horizon House, Deanery Road, Bristol BS1 5AH, United Kingdom.
National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0LW, United Kingdom.
Waste Manag. 2019 Mar 15;87:860-869. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2018.06.032. Epub 2018 Jun 21.
Methane emissions from landfills are an important source of greenhouse gases in the UK and worldwide. This paper considers how measurements of methane emissions could be used to regulate landfills in England in order to reduce the contribution of landfilling to climate change. The paper presents the results of a number of UK studies undertaken to quantify methane emissions from landfills. The methods used have included the DIAL (Differential Absorption Lidar) technique and a tracer gas dispersion method. A method based on aerial measurements has been developed. Methane emission rates were measured at 15 biodegradable waste landfills. All of the landfills where measurements took place had an active landfill gas extraction system. A methane collection index (MCI) is calculated for each landfill using the ratio of the methane collection rate to the sum of the collection and emission rates. The values of the index in the campaigns reported here ranged from 0.28 to 0.90. The modern operational landfills surveyed achieved MCI values with a much narrower range of between 0.64 and 0.90 with an average of 0.76. This has demonstrated that it is possible for these landfills to collect a high proportion of the landfill gas. A proposed approach is presented for regulating landfills using the measured MCI. This would involve an annual measurement campaign to quantify the methane emissions and the use of the data provided by these surveys to develop an achievable but challenging MCI limit. A limit value of 0.75 for the MCI is used to illustrate the approach. An MCI that falls below the limit would trigger actions to reduce the methane emissions from the landfill.
垃圾填埋场的甲烷排放是英国和全球温室气体的重要来源。本文考虑如何利用甲烷排放量的测量来监管英格兰的垃圾填埋场，以减少垃圾填埋场对气候变化的贡献。本文介绍了一些在英国进行的量化垃圾填埋场甲烷排放的研究结果。所采用的方法包括差分吸收激光雷达（DIAL）技术和示踪气体扩散方法。还开发了一种基于航空测量的方法。在 15 个可生物降解废物垃圾填埋场测量了甲烷排放率。所有进行测量的垃圾填埋场都有一个活跃的垃圾填埋气提取系统。使用甲烷收集率与收集和排放率之和的比值，为每个垃圾填埋场计算甲烷收集指数（MCI）。这里报告的活动中，该指数的值范围从 0.28 到 0.90。调查的现代运营垃圾填埋场实现了 MCI 值，范围更窄，在 0.64 到 0.90 之间，平均值为 0.76。这表明这些垃圾填埋场有可能收集到很高比例的垃圾填埋气。提出了一种利用测量的 MCI 来监管垃圾填埋场的方法。这将涉及一个年度测量活动，以量化甲烷排放量，并利用这些调查提供的数据来制定一个可实现但具有挑战性的 MCI 限值。将 MCI 的限值设定为 0.75，以说明该方法。低于限值的 MCI 将触发减少垃圾填埋场甲烷排放的行动。
