Well Preserved- the Problem with Landfills

Here is a picture I took at our regional landfill If you were curious about back to school fashions in 1965- just have a look. I live in Seattle and our solid waste goes to a very well run landfill, operated by people who are consciously trying to do the right thing for our planet (http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/index.asp). Gas is collected at the landfill and used to generate energy. Landfill gas is touted as a source of green energy and often used as an excuse/ justification to landfill wastes that can produce gas. The gas in question is primarily methane (CH4). Methane is famous in the greenhouse gas world for having the 23 times the impact of CO2 on a 100- year basis. It only lasts in the atmosphere for 10 years so getting rid of it now has a potential for a big impact (https://www.britannica.com/science/greenhouse-gas). Methane is formed when microbes try to get energy from eating in an atmosphere without oxygen. Sanitary landfills typically fit that bill. The larger ones are required to collect methane. This was done primarily to prevent the gas from migrating from the landfill into the basements of neighboring homes. Methane is also full of energy and highly explosive. Lighting a cigar in the basement while watching the game before the regulations were put into place could have set off a very big bang. Captured, this gas is also known as natural gas and is a great source of energy. The point of the picture though is that the newsprint in the l...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news