canada funds innovative monitoring systems to reduce emissions at landfills
Canada recently announced funding for monitoring technologies such as drones to monitor gas recovery systems and identify leaks at landfills. According to the government’s press release, municipal solid waste landfills are responsible for almost one quarter of Canada’s methane emissions, which are generated when biodegradable waste decomposes.
This action is on top of the draft landfill emissions rule that Canada put out earlier this year, that leaps ahead of the U.S. EPA's current standards, including covering more landfills, deploying comprehensive surface monitoring using technology like drones, mandating a higher methane destruction standard for flares, and monthly leak detection.
The funded projects are:
Comcor Environmental Limited, in Cambridge, Ontario, received $49,748 to work to identify methane surface emissions and compare field method approaches and detectors at three Canadian landfills.
Carbonaxion Bioénergies Inc., in Quebec, received $200,000 to demonstrate and validate advanced technologies for monitoring landfill gas recovery systems.
The University of Western Ontario received $200,000 to monitor methane emissions from the City of London’s W12A Landfill using several emerging technologies.
The City of Vancouver received $75,000 to evaluate and compare the use of several technologies for monitoring landfill methane emissions.
Comox Valley Regional District, in British Columbia, received $51,000 to use drones for monitoring landfill gas emissions in order to assess collection efficiency and identify system leaks.
As their press release states, drone-based monitoring is very promising when it comes to quick methane leak detection: “Methane emissions from landfills fluctuate over time due to various factors, including barometric pressure, operational practices, and equipment malfunctions. Detecting and repairing leaks as quickly as possible and making adjustments to optimize landfill gas recovery systems are important to help reduce emissions. Emerging drone-based monitoring technologies for landfill methane emissions and automated wellfield management systems present an opportunity to make leak detection and wellfield management easier and more effective.”
