In a recent post I highlighted methane emissions as one of three areas we should immediately attack to combat climate change. I also called out recent satellite measurements showing oil and gas production as culprits. This current BBC report shows images of emission sources [1]. Cleaning up methane leaks in oil and gas can provides near term reduction in GHG emissions[2]. To be fair, it is easy for us to paint the lucrative carbon based energy industry as dirty, but there are other big methane emitters that hit closer to home. The trash we throw away and the foods we eat also play a big role in methane emissions. Do you know where your garbage goes? Does your landfill have an active methane collecting system? Mine doesn't.
The Landfill Methane Outreach Program has a website where you can research the programs in place at your local landfill [3]. Did you know if your landfill doesn’t manage methane emissions that disposing of food waste through a garbage disposal may be a better alternative. (BTW- on average each of us throws away 125 lbs of food waste each year). Addressing climate change is a complicated challenge, and it is going to affect us more than turning off the light when we leave the room or converting to EV transportation. If you want to learn more about global methane emissions I suggest this source from the IEA.[4]
[1] “Climate change: Satellites map huge methane plumes from oil and gas - BBC News.” https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-6020368
[2] “Climate change: Curbing methane emissions will ‘buy us time,’” BBC News, Aug. 11, 2021. Available: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58174111
[3] O. US EPA, “LMOP National Map,” US EPA, Jul. 03, 2017. https://www.epa.gov/lmop/lmop-national-map (accessed Sep. 12, 2020).
[4] “Methane Tracker 2020 – Analysis,” IEA. https://www.iea.org/reports/methane-tracker-2020.
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