Passive methane oxidation biosystems for long term mitigation of fugitive emissions from old landfills

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According to Canada's 2015 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, 19 Megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent, out of the 30 Mt generated by Canadian landfills were ultimately emitted, some escaping to the atmosphere in the form of fugitive - or uncontrolled - methane (CH4) emissions. Landfill emissions can continue for decades after biogas extraction systems reach end-of-life or have been turned off. Successful land reclamation projects, such as turning an old landfill into a park, depends of passive, low-maintenance, technologies that can cope with these emissions. The main goal of this research is to apply the design procedure developed by the PI, which takes into consideration the hydraulic behaviour of passive methane oxidation biosystem (PMOB), to construct and monitor a pilot-scale PMOB at the old Kitchener landfill, recently turned into a park (McLennan municipal park). Our main hypothesis is that this design methodology, with inclusion of recent design recommendations adopted in Europe, will lead to an effective PMOB that is capable of abating the methane fugitive emissions that presently reach the surface of the Kitchener landfill to an acceptable level. This design methodology is based mainly on the hydraulic properties of the PMOB and how they can affect gas migration within un unsaturated porous media. Lack of attention to it, may lead to high methane loadings, i.e., high surface fluxes or hotspots. The novelty of this project is that it will be the first where a PMOB will be designed with formal consideration of unsaturated flow of water and gas. The documentation of the effectiveness of this pilot-scale PMOB will be instrumental in helping the Region Municipality of Waterloo (RMW) and its consultant, GHD, develop a long-term, durable, strategy to abate methane emissions at the Kitchener landfill and other landfills under the responsibility of the RMW. Ultimately, our team aims at proposing a low-maintenance, high impact technology to abate landfill emissions that could be applied by landfill designers and operators across Canada.