Projects funded by the Emerging approaches for reducing landfill methane emissions program

Fiscal years 2023 to 2025

Project: Above the Waste: Innovating Landfill Gas Management with Aerial Technology

Proponent: City of Vancouver

ECCC funding: $75,000 over 2 years

This project will evaluate and compare the use of several technologies for monitoring methane emissions at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta, British Columbia. The technologies to be assessed include 2 types of drone-based surveys, satellite measurements and helicopter-based surveys. These techniques are currently not widely employed at Canadian landfills, but show promise as a complement to ground-based methane emission surveys. The objectives of the project are to evaluate the tested technologies, use the results of the surveys to reduce surface methane emissions, and disseminate related information to interested parties.

Project: Multi-scale Monitoring of Methane Emission from the City of London W12A Landfill

Proponent: University of Western Ontario

ECCC funding: $200,000 over 2 years

This project will evaluate and compare the use of several technologies for monitoring methane emissions at the W12A Landfill in London, Ontario. The technologies to be assessed include drone-based surveys using laser detectors, satellite measurements and ground-based surveys. Drone-based and satellite techniques are currently not widely employed at Canadian landfill sites, but show promise as a complement to ground-based methane emission surveys. The objectives of the project are to evaluate the tested technologies, assess the spatiotemporal distribution of methane emissions, generate data that can be used to mitigate methane emissions and disseminate the results to stakeholders.

Project: Identifying Methane Surface Emissions – A Comparison of Field Method Approaches and Detectors at Three Canadian Landfills

Proponent: Comcor Environmental Limited

ECCC funding: $49,748 over 2 years           

This project will evaluate and compare the use of several technologies for monitoring landfill methane emissions at 3 landfills: the W12A Landfill in London, Ontario, the Oxford Landfill in Salford, Ontario and the Brady Road Resource Recovery Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The technologies to be assessed include drone-based laser surveys, drone-based thermal imaging and ground-based surveys. Drone-based monitoring is currently not widely employed at Canadian landfill sites, but shows promise as a complement to ground-based methane emission surveys. The objectives of the project are to evaluate the tested technologies and disseminate the results to stakeholders.

Project: Drone-Based Landfill Gas Emissions Monitoring for Collection Efficiency and System Leaks

Proponent: Comox Valley Regional District

ECCC funding: $51,000 over 1 year

This project will deploy a drone-based methane sensor at approximately 6 landfills in the Comox Valley Regional District, British Columbia. The applicant will use the results of the drone surveys to identify methane leaks and share the outcomes with other landfill operators. Drone-based monitoring is currently not widely employed at Canadian landfill sites, but shows promise as a complement to ground-based methane emission surveys. The objectives of the project are to evaluate the tested technologies and disseminate the results to stakeholders.

Project: Demonstration and validation of advanced technologies for reducing fugitive methane emissions at the Neuville technical landfill

Proponent: Carbonaxion Bioénergies Inc.

ECCC funding: $200,000 over 2 years

This project will evaluate the use of automated wellhead technology to reduce landfill methane emissions. This emerging technology enables continuous monitoring and adjustment of wellheads in a landfill gas recovery system in order to optimize methane recovery and reduce the remaining methane available to escape to the atmosphere. In this project, automated wellheads will be installed at all of the landfill gas recovery wells at the Neuville Landfill in Neuville, Quebec for a period of 1 year. Before and after installation of the automated wellheads, the methane recovered by the landfill gas collection system will be quantified to assess the efficacy of the system in reducing methane leaks.