New Data Adds Pressure On EPA To Strengthen Landfill Methane Rules. According to Inside EPA, “Environmentalists are stepping up their calls for EPA to update its new source performance standards (NSPS) to reduce methane and related emissions from landfills, citing a new study showing solid waste landfills have become the largest domestic industrial source of the potent greenhouse gas. According to new analysis by Industrious Labs, a group that advocates for decarbonizing the industrial sector, municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills were the largest industrial source of methane in 28 states in 2022, an increase from 27 states in 2021, based on EPA GHG reporting data. Also, the MSW sector was the largest methane-emitting industrial sector in 45 states in 2022, up from 43 in 2021.” [Inside EPA, 3/14/24 (=)]
Oil Fields Release Far More Methane Than Thought, Study Finds. According to the New York Times, “Oil and gas producers in major oil fields across the United States may be emitting three times as much planet-warming methane gas as official estimates, according to new research published Wednesday, the latest study to suggest that emissions from the fossil fuel sector may be grossly undercounted. In some parts of New Mexico, more than 9 percent of the natural gas produced was escaping into the atmosphere, researchers said in the study, published in the journal, Nature.” [New York Times, 3/14/24 (=)]