EPA Research Partner Support Story: Evaluating next generation emission measurement technologies to quantify landfill air emissions
Partners: Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Challenge: Inaccurate methods for quantifying landfill air emissions
Resource: Evaluating next generation emission measurement (NGEM) technologies as an alternative to current methods
Project Period: 2019 – Present
As of 2023, there are more than 2600 landfills in the US subject to Clean Air Act regulations requiring use of surface emission measurements (SEMs) and installation of gas capture and control systems. Since the regulation was published in 1996, there has been minimal updates to this rule in terms of use of next generation emission measurement (NGEM) technology for conducting SEMs and evaluating mitigation improvements through automatic tuning of the landfill gas (LFG) well field.
"Helping states understand the accuracy of new and innovative ways to monitor air emissions from landfills will help EGLE be able to better manage air quality in Michigan." ‒ Michigan EGLE Air Quality Division, Assistant Director Jay Olaguer
As waste in landfills decomposes, it produces emissions, including methane, nonmethane organic compounds, and hazardous air pollutants. This project evaluated an alternative (i.e., NGEM) approach for conducting SEMS at landfills using drone technology as conducted by Sniffer Robotics. This work resulted in development of an alternative measurement method that allows for routine use of the drone for conducting quarterly SEMs as required by the Clean Air Act. This method (OTM 51) is in routine use across the US as a result of the work conducted for EPA Region 5 and the state of Michigan.
In addition to demonstrating and deploying new method using drones for SEMs, EPA ORD researchers also worked with Carbon Mapper (https://carbonmapper.org/) to evaluate remote sensing data to determine compliance and enforcement of CAA regulations for landfills. Aircraft are used by Carbon Mapper and NASA to conduct regional survey of methane sources. Working with Region 5 and Michigan, EPA ORD researchers were able to investigate which landfills had higher emissions and where leaks are found. When landfill inspections occurred, it was possible to determine the root cause of the leaks and what was leading to high loss of fugitive methane and other air emissions. EPA ORD researchers also worked with Scientific Aviation to conduct independent validation of the Carbon Mapper approach (which quantifies point sources) versus emission measurements from Scientific Aviation that is quantifying total mass emissions (fugitive and point sources). Very good agreement was found, suggesting that point sources dominate emissions at landfills. Furthermore, it was found that landfills dominate emissions in some air basins based upon data from landfills in both EPA Region 5 and the southeastern US. The results have been submitted to Science in May 2023, and publication is expected in Spring 2024. EPA ORD researchers continue working with Carbon Mapper, NASA and others to identify landfills where near-term reductions are possible.