CLEAR
IWWG Task Group on
Landfill Gas Emissions to the Atmosphere
Marion Huber-Humer / Peter Lechner
Aims
The CLEAR Task Group aims to coordinate interdisciplinary research on the quantification and mitigation of landfill gas emissions to the atmosphere. The Task Group emerged from a recognized need among participants at an IWWG-Workshop held in the context of the Second Intercontinental Landfill Research Symposium (ICLRS), in Asheville, North Carolina in October 2002, for a mechanism with which to coordinate international research on landfill gas emissions and oxidation.
The CLEAR Task Group includes approx. 40 academic and industrial researchers and scientists from Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia and is co-chaired by Marion Huber-Humer (e-mail: marion.huber-humer@boku.ac.at) and Peter Lechner from the Institute of Waste Management of BOKU University in Vienna, Austria.
Members
The following is a complete list of currently registered members (in alphabetic order) and their corresponding institutions:
|
Name |
Institution |
Country |
|
M. Abushammala |
University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) |
Malaysia |
|
N. Acosta |
Army Polytechnic School ( ESPE) |
Ecuador |
|
A. Akerman |
CIRADE - Waste R&D department - SUEZ Environnement |
France |
|
C. Aran |
CREED-Organic Wastes Treatment R&D Department -Véolia Environnement |
France |
|
M. Barlaz |
Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University |
US |
|
J. Bogner |
Landfills +, Inc. & Dept. Of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago |
US |
|
S. Bohn |
Institute WAR, Chair of Waste Management, Darmstadt University of Technology |
Germany |
|
G. Borjesson |
Dept. of Water and Environmental Studies, Linkoeping University |
Sweden |
|
A. Cabral |
Dept. Civil Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke |
CA |
|
J. Chanton |
Department of Oceanography, Florida State University |
US |
|
A. De Visscher |
Canada Research Chair in Air Quality and Pollution Control Engineering, University of Calgary |
CA |
|
S. Dever |
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of the New South Wales, Sydney |
Australia |
|
L. F. Diaz |
CalRecovery, Inc. |
US |
|
J. Einola |
Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä |
Finland |
|
M. Ettala |
Kuopio University, and Matti Ettala Oy |
Finland |
|
Ch. Felske |
Environment, Research, and Regulatory, City of Edmonton, Waste Management Branch |
Canada |
|
J. Gebert |
Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg |
Germany |
|
R. Haubrichs |
Waste Management Department, University Duisburg - Essen |
Germany |
|
P. Hettiaratchi |
Department of Civil Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, Univ. of Calgary |
CA |
|
H. Hilger |
Department of Civil Engineering , UNC-Charlotte |
US |
|
M. H.-Humer |
Inst. of Waste Management, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna |
Austria |
|
T. Johnson |
Waste Management Inc., Groundwater Protection Program |
US |
|
P. Kjeldsen |
Environment & Resources DTU , Technical University of Denmark |
Denmark |
|
P. Lechner |
Inst. of Waste Management, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna |
Austria |
|
K. Mahieu |
Wvi, West-Vlaamse Intercommunale |
Belgium |
|
Ch. Maurice |
Div. of Landfill Science and Technology, Luleå University of Technology |
Sweden |
|
J. McCartney |
Department of Civil, Env. And Arch. Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder |
US |
|
H. Oonk |
OonKAY -private company |
Netherlands |
|
G.B. Pedersen |
Environment & Resources DTU, Technical University of Denmark |
Denmark |
|
I. Rachor |
Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg |
Germany |
|
I. Röwer |
Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg |
Germany |
|
J. Samuelsson |
Department of Radio and Space Science, Chalmers University of Technology |
Sweden |
|
H. Scharff |
NV Afvalzorg Holding |
Netherlands |
|
Ch. Scheutz |
Environment & Resources DTU, Technical University of Denmark |
Denmark |
|
K. Spokas |
US Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) |
US |
|
W. Stepniewski |
Inst. of Environmental Protection Engineering, Lublin University of Technology |
Poland |
|
J. Streese |
Institute of Environmental Technology & Energy Economics, Group of Bioconversion & Emissioncontrol, Hamburg University of Technology |
Germany |
|
F. Tatano |
DiGeoTeCA, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies, University of Urbino |
Italy |
|
A. Watzinger |
AIT - Environmental Resources and Technologies |
Austria |
|
S.T. S. Yuen |
Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringUniversity of Melbourne |
Australia |
Member expertise encompasses a broad range of disciplines, including microbiology, soil science, chemistry, geochemistry, civil and environmental engineering, and waste management. Collectively, CLEAR members have many years of experience in the measurement and modeling of landfill gases at local, regional, and global scales.
Marion Huber-Humer - Chair of CLEAR IWWG Task Group
Focus and Objectives
Currently, the main focus of CLEAR is on the utilization of natural biological processes to reduce emissions of methane and non-methane organic compounds (NMOCs). A second focus is on improved methodologies to measure and model landfill gas emissions. Moreover, CLEAR manages a large database, currently being updated, of information and scientific results on methane emissions and oxidation.
The Task Group provides a forum for members to discuss and exchange ideas, generate hypotheses, and jointly consider and relate results and findings from diverse projects. By fostering international and interdisciplinary communication and pooling data, research advances can be accelerated, and future research requirements identified and synthesized more effectively. From the synergy fostered by CLEAR, more innovative and comprehensive approaches and strategies to measure, characterize, and mitigate landfill gas emissions will emerge.
As research efforts are coordinated and new results are generated, the Group serves as a clearinghouse and point of contact for those seeking information about measuring, modeling, and mitigating landfill gas emissions. Landfill operators, legislators, industry groups, and citizen groups are encouraged to access information through contact with CLEAR. Furthermore, collaborations from within the Group are published in international journals, so that ready access to information is available to the research community. Some of the research topics addressed by CLEAR members include:
• landfill gas generation and emissions
• control and mitigation strategies for LFG-emissions
• prediction and modeling on a regional, national and global basis
• contribution of landfill methane to the greenhouse effect and climate change
• microbial methane oxidation
• biodegradation of NMOCs in landfill cover soils
The current objectives of CLEAR include:
• Standardization of methods used to measure biotic methane oxidation capacity
• Fine-tuning isotope methods to measure methane oxidation
• Quantification and field validation of LFG-emissions and effects of diverse mitigation technologies
• Development and improvement of engineering systems to enhance methane oxidation in landfill cover soils
• Modeling of methane oxidation in landfill cover materials
• Biodegradation of NMOCs in landfill settings, including both aerobic cover soils and deeper anaerobic zones
CLEAR encourages and implements frequent scientific exchange through an email discussion platform (CH4ox@yahoogroups.com). To date, approximately 60 persons have subscribed to this list.
Annual workshops/meetings are convened to maintain personal contact among members, introduce new members to the Task Group, and to provide a forum for presentations and interactive group discussions. Since 2003 there have been more than 9 meetings and workshops, generally during the Sardinia or Intercontinental Landfill Research Symposium (ICLRS) events.
More information can be found on the CLEAR website: http://ch4ox.lmem.us
Contact person:
Marion Huber-Humer, MSc, PhD
BOKU University Vienna
Institute of Waste Management
Muthgasse 107
A- 1190 Vienna, Austria
Phone: +43 1 318 99 00
E-mail: marion.huber-humer@boku.ac.at
Next Task Group Meeting:
The next TG meeting is scheduled in the context of Sardinia 2011, 3-7 October 2011, S. Margherita di Pula (Cagliari), Sardinia, Italy.
NEWS
February 2011
At a workshop held during the Sardinia 2009 Conference the mutual interest to prepare a thematic issue for the journal Waste Management presenting the current status of international research on landfill gas emission assessment and mitigation technologies emerged by the Task Group and editors of this Journal. Thus in spring 2010, Peter Kjeldsen and Kurt Spokas as associate editors of WM and active members of CLEAR, and Marion Huber-Humer as chairman of CLEAR and guest editor started to coordinate this thematic WM issue and invited authors to submit papers via the CLEAR mailing list. Moreover, other thematic relevan manuscripts submitted regularly to Waste Management within the timeframe of the call for papers were considered for inclusion. All submitted papers underwent the regular peer-review process of WM. The ''Special Issue on Landfill Gas Emission and Mitigation'' is published within the first half of 2011 and comprises 26 innovative, high quality papers from nine different countries, reflecting the broad range of international research activities in this field.
January 2010
Following the Sardinia 2009 Symposium, during which the CLEAR (Consortium for Landfill Emissions Abatement Research) Task Group hosted the workshop session “Factors controlling methane emissions and oxidation" and held an administrative member meeting, the activities of the Task Group have focused on, among other topics, current progress in EU landfill legislation, in particular amendment of the EU landfill directive. The Task Group wrote a letter to the EU Commission, DG Environment (BU-5 5/183) expressing its support for the introduction of harmonised methane emission limit values in the European landfill regulations, and the need to improve and harmonise methods to reliably quantify landfill methane emissions. Moreover in this letter, CLEAR volunteered to serve as an independent consulting forum providing expertise and information on relevant landfill methane emission and mitigation tasks.
In the meantime, a TAC (technical adaptation committee) working group on methane capture was established to assess the feasibility of a robust and uniform set of landfill gas emission quantification tools, as well as the feasibility and impacts of setting possible targets for landfill gas emission reduction. The TAC working group has undertaken to provide recommendations to the Commission and member states by November 2010.
This TAC working group is chaired by Heijo Scharff (NV Afvalzorg, the Netherlands), member of CLEAR and chairman of the IWWG Task Group on Sustainable Landfilling. One subtask of the TAC working group will be to improve the default value for methane oxidation used in modelling and calculating landfill methane emission. The current default value recommended by IPCC and intended for national inventory reports is set at 10%. Lacking a widely accepted alternative, this value is applied worldwide on individual landfills regardless of the characteristics of landfill cover and climatic impacts. CLEAR members have taken part in intensive discussions on this issue over the past months and have agreed that this value is already obsolete. A few members put forward the idea to develop a practicable excel-based approach, a kind of simplified matrix, wherewith an “individual”, site-adapted default value for methane oxidation can be generated quite easily by the landfill operator to obtain a more meaningful estimate for the purpose of individual landfill emission reporting. The current status is to create a first draft to subsequently be circulated to all CLEAR members for discussion and experience input. The revised approach shall then be introduced to the TAC working group.
Future activities of the TG will include an administrative member meeting to be held within the framework of the upcoming ICLRS 2010 Symposium, in coordination with the IWWG Task Group on Sustainable Landfilling. Moreover, two CLEAR members, Julia Gebert (University of Hamburg) and Charlotte Scheutz (Technical University of Denmark), have organized and will chair two sessions on methane oxidation and emission measurements during ICLRS. In one session the focus will be on the identification of factors affecting in situ methane oxidation in landfill covers, engineered biocovers and biofilters, and the definition of criteria for cover material selection. The other session focuses on the development of reliable methods for quantification of methane emission from landfills, which is important in order to evaluate measures for reduction of GHG emissions by new mitigation technologies, and to provide inventory data for environmental assessment of different waste treatment options.