International Field Validation of a New IPCC Model for Landfill Methane Emissions

It is important for the waste industry, both in the U.S. and internationally, to develop improved, science-based, field-validated methodologies for annual greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory reporting. Based on a high level of U.S. and international interest in improved methods to replace historic landfill methane (CH4) generation modeling with a model specifically for emissions that includes seasonal CH4 oxidation, this project is a cost-effective extension and expansion of a 2007-2010 project funded by the California Energy Commission that developed the California Landfill Methane Inventory Model (CALMIM).  This model allows for site-specific emissions which can be summed to provide regional inventory data.  However, the model includes embedded information that allows its application on a national basis and is not solely limited to California.  As a logical follow-up, the work conducted under this EREF grant will facilitate a broader U.S. and international field validation of the CALMIM model to match existing and continuing international datasets for emissions and oxidation, and to assist in fine-tuning the model, as appropriate. The objectives are:

1. To develop an improved landfill CH4 inventory model for the U.S. by expanded field validation of the CALMIM model using existing emissions/oxidation data from U.S. research projects.
2. To develop an improved landfill CH4 inventory model for international application under the current IPCC National Inventory Methodology for Waste using existing field measurements for landfill CH4 emissions and oxidation by several research groups in Europe, Australia, and Africa.

Publications/Reports
Final Report