EPA's Global Climate Change Program. Program Plan for Methane Emissions fromLandfills and Other Waste Disposal Facilities

摘要

The paper discusses a portion of EPA's global climate change program, a programplan for methane emissions from landfills and other waste disposal facilities. In response to concerns about global climate change, the U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) has initiated an emissions and mitigation program. ORD's Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory (AEERL) has begun research on greenhouse gas emission estimation, biomass and methane utilization, tropospheric ozone, and evaluation of potential mitigation opportunities for emissions contributing to global climate change. The emissions program has begun to identify and quantify emission sources of greenhouse gases for anthropogenic sources including landfills, coal mines, natural gas production/distribution, cookstoves, and biomass burning. Development of enhanced emission estimates will improve the understanding of atmospheric chemistry and feedback effects, target mitigation opportunities, and ensure cost-effective mitigation strategies. The focus of the paper is on AEERL's research efforts on global landfill methane.