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A Possibility to Reduce Methane Emission from Landfills by Its Oxidation in the Soil Cover

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Chemistry for the Protection of the Environment 2

Part of the book series: Environmental Science Research ((ESRH,volume 51))

Abstract

Landfills of municipal wastes are considered to be a source of total methane emission to the atmosphere estimated at 20 to 70 Tg annually which is an important contribution (6–20%) to total anthropogenic emission (about 360 Tg). Atmospheric concentration of this very radiatively active gas (about 30 times more than CO2) is increasing at a rate of approximately 1% per year. One of the possibilities to reduce the ongoing methane concentration growth in the atmosphere is the reduction of anthropogenic emission by about 10%, which corresponds to the oxidation of 3/4 of methane emitted from landfills. According to some authors the cheapest and the most feasible way of decreasing methane emission from municipal wastes is increasing the degree of methane oxidation in the landfill cover soil.

This paper presents a general discussion of the problem and analyses the effects of different factors determining methane oxidation efficiency in landfill cover soil. Optimization of the methane oxidation process in landfill cover might be achieved based on such parameters as: type and thickness of the soil cover, pH and gas diffusion coefficient.

The possibility of a substantial increase in the degree of methane oxidation in landfill soil cover has been confirmed. It has been demonstrated that methane oxidation in soil obeys Michaelis-Menten kinetics with respect to both oxygen and methane. The methanotrophic activity in soil increases with time in the presence of elevated methane concentrations and stabilizes after about one month. The optimum pH for methane oxidation ranges from 6 to 8.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University of Lublin, 40, Nadbystrzycka Str., 20-618, Lublin, Poland

    Witold Stępniewski & Małgorzata Pawłowska

  2. Institute of Agrophisics PAN, 4, Doświadczalna Str., 20-280, Lublin, Poland

    Witold Stępniewski

Authors
  1. Witold Stępniewski
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  2. Małgorzata Pawłowska
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland

    Lucjan Pawłowski  & Marzenna R. Dudzińska  & 

  2. Lacy and Associates, Alexandria, Virginia, USA

    William J. Lacy

  3. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

    Christopher G. Uchrin

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© 1996 Plenum Press, New York

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Stępniewski, W., Pawłowska, M. (1996). A Possibility to Reduce Methane Emission from Landfills by Its Oxidation in the Soil Cover. In: Pawłowski, L., Lacy, W.J., Uchrin, C.G., Dudzińska, M.R. (eds) Chemistry for the Protection of the Environment 2. Environmental Science Research, vol 51. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0405-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0405-0_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-8037-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0405-0

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