Half of Buenos Aires’s methane emissions may come from one landfill

James Dinneen is a writer.

Half of a city's methane emissions can be attributed to a single landfill. The amount of gas released into the atmosphere could be reduced by covering them up.

Methane is a greenhouse gas. Oil and gas production is the biggest source of methane emissions. The majority of methane emissions come from rotting landfills.

Satellites were used by the Netherlands Institute for Space Research to identify the landfills behind much of the methane emissions in four cities.

The cities were identified as methane hot spots by using an instrument on board the satellite that monitors methane emissions. The team pointed two higher-resolution satellites at the cities because the satellite has a broad field of view.

Half of the city's methane emissions were accounted for by a large landfill. The majority of the methane came from an uncovered area. 26 per cent of the city's methane emissions came from a landfill. 12 and 6 per cent of methane emissions were caused by the biggest landfill sources.

Emissions from individual facilities are very significant. There are places to focus emission- reduction efforts. Reducing the amount of organic waste could reduce methane emissions from landfills by six times.