Weekly Data Story
Waste is part of everyone’s lives. Some people strive to significantly reduce the amount of trash they generate while others don’t give a second thought to what goes into the rubbish bin. In the US, most of what goes into a trash can ultimately finds its way to one of the country’s 1,250 landfills. Landfills take up large areas of space and become managed mountains of trash.
Currently, the largest Landfill in the US is Nevada’s Apex Landfill which is 2,200 acres (that is roughly 2 1/2 times more the size of NYC’s Central Park). The landfill opened in 1993 and is planned to be in operation for 200 years! We have an animated version of LandSat showing how the landfill changed the landscape of the Las Vegas’ desert over the past 30 years.
We chose to highlight landfills for this posting since they are the 3rd largest source of methane emissions in the US. As the organic materials break down in the trash they release landfill gas which is basically a 50/50 mix of methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is 25x more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Thus, methane is a significant contributor to climate change. Nearly all the methane emissions from landfill gas can be avoided – that is why composting is gaining such popularity across the country.
Historically, methane emissions were mostly measured by the use of engineering equations. For example, the Apex landfill’s calculations reported to the EPA released 3,933 tons of methane last year (that’s about the same emissions as the total electricity use of 10,600 homes). However, more satellites are being launched with sensors to measure and pinpoint where the methane emissions are coming from. In the next few years it will be possible to use remote sensing to verify these emissions.
Authors: Jose Pillich & Ryan Kmetz
