Biocover - reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from landfills by use of engineered bio-covers

Abstract

Emission of methane from landfills due to anaerobic decomposition of organic material is oneof the most important environmental concerns with regards to solid waste management. Thisis due to the amount of methane released from landfills globally and the relatively high globalwarming potential of methane. An approach to reduce emissions is to improve conditions forbiological oxidation of methane in the top cover using engineered biocovers.A demonstration project was initiated at the Technical University of Denmark under the EULife Environment program, where this technology is applied in full scale at section I on Fakselandfill in Denmark. Construction of the full scale biocover at the test site was completed attime of writing.The main project objective was to document the construction and efficiency of the system.The project actions consist of a logical order of tasks performed in able to meet the objectivesof the project. At first the landfill was characterized. Expected landfill gas production wasestimated based upon the collected data using models. Then, a baseline study was performed,consisting of an evaluation of the spatial variability in methane emission at the site. The totalmethane emission from the landfill was measured by use of a tracer technique.Mixtures of locally available soils and organic waste residuals were tested by laboratory batchand column experiments. A cover improvement plan included details on material additions toselected areas of the landfill, maintenance plans of the total landfill cover. A plan formonitoring performance was setup. The emissions after the cover improvement will becompared to the emissions obtained during the baseline study. Scenarios for other landfillswill be calculated based on the experiences obtained from the studied landfill.