The results of the project, at the request of the Government of Catalonia, will provide the information needed to implement effective measures to prevent methane and carbon dioxide emissions, the main greenhouse gases.
The Catalan Ministry for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, through the Waste Agency of Catalonia (ARC), has awarded the contract for technical assistance to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) to evaluate the efficiency of biogas storage in all controlled landfills in Catalonia. The project will be financed with 1 million euros from the Climate Fund, which is financed with 50% of the revenue obtained from the tax on CO2 emissions from motor vehicles, and 20% of the revenue from the tax on installations that affect the environment. The study is scheduled to be carried out between the years 2025 and 2026.
This Monday the director of the ARC, Albert Planell, and the president of the agency, Minister Sílvia Paneque, formalised the contract with the rector of the UAB, Javier Lafuente, in a public signing ceremony. Under this commitment, a methodology will be developed to quantify fugitive methane emissions and biogas storage efficiency in controlled waste tanks with biogas storage systems. The methodology will be applied to 44 controlled landfills in Catalonia and will make it possible to determine the current situation of each facility.
The rector of the UAB, Javier Lafuente, highlighted "the role of the public university in responding to the needs of society". "Public administrations must help each other", said Lafuente, 'and it is very positive that the Catalan Government counts on the University to look for solutions to problems'.
The Minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition Sílvia Paneque considered that "only science can provide answers in order to address the challenges in a context of global change. It is important for the University to be an engine of innovation and progress to generate scientific knowledge for the benefit of society as a whole". For Paneque, "waste management is a very important challenge that we have as a country, and with this project, which involves around one million euros to evaluate the efficiency of biogas storage in the main controlled tanks, we are developing the planning tools to be able to make the appropriate public policies to reduce emissions".
In Catalonia, the waste sector contributes approximately 6% to 7% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The main contributor is waste going to landfills.
There are several factors that affect the generation of biogas in these controlled tanks. The main one is the presence of biodegradable organic waste. That is why for more than 30 years in Catalonia the selective collection of municipal waste (mainly biodegradable waste: biowaste, vegetable waste, paper and cardboard) has been promoted, avoiding its entry into landfills. But this does not exclude the fact that the accumulated presence of biodegradable waste inside landfills over the past 30 to 40 years continues to generate significant amounts of biogas.
The contract signed is aligned with the Integrated Energy and Climate Plan of Catalonia 2030 (PINECCAT2030), which proposes a 35% reduction in GHG emissions from landfills by 2030 with respect to 2005, reaching a maximum emission of 1,293.86 kt CO2 eq. Considering the reduction that has already taken place between 2005 and 2021, this means a reduction, in absolute value, of 325.84 kt CO2 eq. between 2021 and 2030.
The increase in the selective collection of municipal waste, especially of biodegradable fractions, and the extension of the pretreatment of the residual fraction to 100% (in 2023, 74.5% of the residual fraction generated was treated, 3.4% more than in the previous year) will contribute significantly to the reduction of biodegradable organic waste entering landfills. These two measures, important as they are, will have an effect mainly a posteriori.
The project will have a strong impact on the reduction of GHG emissions from landfills (due to the deposition of biodegradable organic waste over the past 30 to 40 years, when selective collection rates were still very low) and will provide the necessary information to be able to implement effective measures to prevent or limit as much as possible the leakage of biogas from landfills.
Methodology of the study
The study consists of establishing in each cell of the landfill a grid, a georeferenced network of points, and in each point a value is measured and taken with a device. Once the measurements are taken, colour maps are created to determine the amount of methane that escapes. This allows calculations to be made and to know how much biogas is generated, how much is stored and how much is lost, so that efficiency can be sought. The study will be carried out twice in the "large" controlled tanks (36) and once in the small tanks (8). The data obtained will make it possible to create the necessary infrastructure and operational measures to increase the degree of biogas efficiency in the landfills of Catalonia.
