Estimation of Methane from Municipal Solid Waste Landfill

Abstract

Land filling is one of the most common ways of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal in developing countries. Large quantity of methane gas is emitted from no-regulated municipal solid waste landfill to the atmosphere and recognized as an important contributor to global warming. Many researchers have been done with the purpose to estimate the quantity of generated methane gas, capture, utilize and to use of this energy source to produce electricity or heat, since then many models have been developed to calculate landfill gas generation. In this paper the IPCC (Intergovernmental panel for climate change) default model, is presented to estimate emission of methane from municipal solid waste landfill, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Obtained result revealed that solid waste generation rate increased from 731,738 m3 in 2003 to 1,022,814 m3 in 2012. The quantity of waste generated in Addis Ababa is increasing this is because of rapid population growth and urbanization. Between the years 2003 and 2012, the population of Addis Ababa City raised from 3,015,498 to 4,218,278. Similar trend was observed for estimated Net Annual methane emission value. The estimated Net Annual methane emission value from solid waste landfills was 7.11 (Gg yr-1) in 2003, while the maximum methane production rate by the IPCC default model was calculated to be 9.98 (Gg yr-1 ) and was observed during the year 2012 . It can be assumed that, the increased volume of generated methane from increased solid waste in this landfill is sufficient enough to be considered for new standard landfill site construction with methane capturing facilities. Stabilization of methane emissions has an immediate impact on national energy security and mitigating potential climate change.

Keywords: Global warming; Methane; Municipal Solid Waste; Climate change, IPCC default model