Earlier this year, Mumbai’s Kanjurmarg landfill—a place that takes in most of the city’s waste—was found to be one of the largest emitters of the greenhouse gas (GHG) methane in the world, and one of only two landfills from India to make it to the top 25 list. As global warming accelerates, causing extreme and erratic weather across the world, the Paris Agreement's target of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5-2°C by 2030 cannot be achieved at a reasonable cost without reducing methane emissions by 40-45 percent by that year, according to the United Nation Environment Programme's Global Methane Assessment 2021.

Methane is an odourless gas, but coupled with other landfill gases, it adds to local pollution, contributes to health issues and is also susceptible to fires. The residents of areas near the Kanjurmarg landfill have repeatedly complained of the unbearable stench from it and as part of an ongoing case in the Bombay High Court, two judges visited the landfill at night in April to personally inspect the odour. The High Court had pulled up both the municipal corporation as well as the company running the landfill, directing them to undertake a series of measures to control the stench.

Mumbai generates one of the highest volumes of waste in the country at around 6,300 tonnes per day of which around 72 percent is food waste. Methane emissions from Mumbai’s landfills have been a concern for years now and decomposing wet waste is one of its biggest causes. The international ranking points to the scale of the problem, which can be addressed through efficient waste management.

But chief engineer (solid waste management- projects) of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Avinash Kate cast doubt on the aforementioned rankings and said, “This particular report is based on a satellite study which may not be that accurate. We are commissioning our own study of methane emissions with the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) which will involve a drone survey, monitors and our own satellite data. Since the NEERI study will be across seasons, it will take a year at least,” said Kate.

(Source: GHG emission and carbon sequestration potential from MSW of Indian metro cities)

India 6th biggest emitter of methane

Methane, the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2), is 28 times more powerful than CO2 at warming the atmosphere, and is responsible for almost a quarter of global warming, as IndiaSpend explained in July 2022. Of India’s total GHG emissions, CO2 makes up for 80 percent followed by methane at 13 percent as of 2020.

Methane's impact is short-lived, as it remains in the atmosphere for just about a decade, compared to CO2, whose impact lasts for several decades. Methane, however, has far greater heat trapping capacity. In 20 years, methane can trap 80 times as much heat as CO2. Over a 100-year time frame, methane is 25 times as potent as CO2, according to the Global Methane Budget 2020. Fossil fuel production and consumption accounts for 35 percent of human-caused methane emissions, waste 20 percent and agriculture 40........

© newslaundry