Carbon Emissions Quantification of Landfill Final Cover Systems
Publication: Geo-Congress 2023
ABSTRACT
Landfills are a major source of carbon emissions in the US. Landfills are required to comply with certain federal and state regulations, including meeting requirements for final cover systems (FCSs). Significant weightage must be assigned to carbon emissions in selection of FCS. A detailed quantification of carbon emissions for three landfill FCSs—(1) soil cover, (2) soil-geosynthetic cover, and (3) an engineered turf cover—is performed. The life cycle boundaries employed in the study are cradle to end-of-construction. Emissions are classified into three categories: (1) production, (2) transportation, and (3) construction. Emissions in these categories for each component of the FCSs are estimated. A comparative analysis of the emissions for the three FCSs is performed, and findings and results are discussed. A sensitivity analysis is performed relative to transportation distances, and results are presented.
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Geo-Congress 2023
Pages: 75 - 84
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Published online: Mar 23, 2023
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