Assessment of Post-Earthquake Landfill Methane Emissions
Publication: Geo-Extreme 2021
ABSTRACT
The effects of disaster events on gas emissions from landfills was evaluated using earthquakes as an example event. Cracking constituted the main damage mechanism and available data from previous studies was adapted to establish crack characteristics. In particular, methane flux was estimated using STOMP numerical analysis software. A landfill with a 1-m-thick intermediate cover was analyzed. Overall, three levels of damage (low, moderate, and high) were evaluated, where normalized crack depths ranged from 0.25 (surficial) to 1.0 (full depth) and the extent of cracking ranged from 0.01% to 3% of the landfill area. Flux and emissions increased due to earthquake damage with relatively low increases for partial crack penetration and significant increase due to full cover cracking. The emissions increased from 389 to 678 t CO2-Eq./year from baseline, intact conditions to high damage conditions for a landfill area of 100 ha. Disaster events provide a pathway for increasing atmospheric abundance of methane, which is a greenhouse gas with significant climate impacts.
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Geo-Extreme 2021
Pages: 264 - 272
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Published online: Nov 4, 2021
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