title: Comparison of Field Measurements to Methane Emissions Models at a New Landfill.
abstract: Estimates of methane emissions from landfills rely primarily on models due to both technical and economic limitations. While models are easy to implement, there is uncertainty due to the use of parameters that are difficult to validate. The objective of this research was to compare modeled emissions using several greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting protocols including: (1) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); (2) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (EPA GHGRP); (3) California Air Resources Board (CARB); and (4) Solid Waste Industry for Climate Solutions (SWICS), with measured emissions data collected over three calendar years from a young landfill with no gas collection system. By working with whole landfill measurements of fugitive methane emissions and methane oxidation, the collection efficiency could be set to zero, thus eliminating one source of parameter uncertainty. The models consistently overestimated annual methane emissions by a factor ranging from 4-31. Varying input parameters over reasonable ranges reduced this range to 1.3-8. Waste age at the studied landfill was less than four years and the results suggest the need for measurements at additional landfills to evaluate the accuracy of the tested models to young landfills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Campus Box 7908, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7908, United States.
authors.forename: Florentino B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: De la Cruz
authors.affiliation: Waste Management, Inc., 2956 Montana Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211, United States.
authors.forename: Roger B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Waste Management, Inc., 2956 Montana Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211, United States.
authors.forename: Gary R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Hater
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University , Tallahassee, Florida 32306, United States.
authors.forename: Jeffrey P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chanton
authors.affiliation: U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, United States.
authors.forename: Eben D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Thoma
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering and Physics, University of Central Oklahoma , Edmond, Oklahoma 73034, United States.
authors.forename: Tierney A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Campus Box 7908, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7908, United States.
authors.forename: Morton A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Barlaz
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants; D057231:Climate Change; D006801:Humans; D008697:Methane; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D062611:Solid Waste; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D062611:Solid Waste; D008697:Methane