5.4 Waste and climate change
Summary
TLDRThis module discusses the significant link between waste management and climate change, emphasizing the role of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from landfills and wastewater. It highlights the underestimated impact of waste on global greenhouse gas emissions and explores potential reduction strategies, including landfill gas recovery, waste diversion, and recycling. The script also introduces carbon trading mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the emerging Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA), showcasing examples of successful waste management projects in reducing emissions.
Takeaways
- β»οΈ Climate change is primarily caused by human activities that increase greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.
- π‘ Methane is 25 times more potent than CO2, and nitrous oxide is 298 times more potent in warming the Earth over a century.
- π Greenhouse gases are often measured in terms of CO2 equivalents to standardize their impact.
- π Black carbon, resulting from incomplete biomass combustion, is a significant but currently unquantified climate pollutant.
- π₯ Burning waste is a typical source of black carbon, which is a topic of growing interest and research.
- πΊοΈ The waste sector contributes 3-5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, mainly through methane from landfills and wastewater.
- π± Waste management, including recycling and reducing waste transport, could potentially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 10-20%.
- π‘ Landfill gas recovery and electricity production are effective ways to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
- πΏ Composting, anaerobic digestion, and thermal processes can reduce emissions and substitute other resource-intensive processes.
- πΌ Carbon trading mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allow countries to earn carbon credits for emission reductions, including waste management projects.
- π NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) are voluntary commitments by countries to reduce emissions, with financial assistance from developed nations.
Q & A
What is the primary cause of global warming and climate change?
-The primary cause of global warming and climate change is the increase in average global temperatures, mainly due to human activities that increase greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other industrial gases.
How does methane compare to carbon dioxide in terms of its potency as a greenhouse gas?
-Methane is 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
What is the role of black carbon in climate change?
-Black carbon, resulting from incomplete combustion of biomass, is an important short-lived climate pollutant. It is typically produced by burning waste and contributes to climate change, although it is not yet included in the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions due to the lack of a standardized comparison metric.
How does the waste sector contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions?
-The waste sector contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions primarily through methane emissions from landfills, methane and nitrous oxide from wastewater treatment, and minor CO2 and nitrous oxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
What is the estimated percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions that could be reduced by the waste management sector?
-It is estimated that around ten to twenty percent of global greenhouse gas emissions could potentially be reduced by the waste management sector through various measures.
What are some methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from waste management?
-Some methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from waste management include landfill gas recovery, diversion from landfills through composting or anaerobic digestion, thermal processes, and waste minimization, recycling, and reuse.
How does carbon trading work in the context of waste management projects?
-Carbon trading involves purchasing emission reduction credits or allowances from other sources, such as waste management projects in low and middle-income countries, which have mitigated emissions of CO2 equivalents. Mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allow projects in developing countries to earn carbon credits that can be used by industrialized countries to meet their emission reduction targets.
What is the significance of the DoΓ±a Juana landfill project in Bogota, Colombia?
-The DoΓ±a Juana landfill project in Bogota, Colombia, is one of the largest Clean Development Mechanism projects in Latin America, which started in 2009 and was fully operational by the end of 2010. It has significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions, with a total reduction estimated to be 14.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over its 22-year lifespan.
What is NAMA and how does it relate to waste management?
-NAMA stands for nationally appropriate mitigation action, which refers to a set of policies and actions that countries undertake voluntarily to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It includes a wide range of actions such as policies, strategies, research, development, training, and capacity building, and can involve waste management projects as part of the efforts to reduce emissions.
Why is the contribution of the waste sector to greenhouse gas emissions considered to be underestimated?
-The contribution of the waste sector to greenhouse gas emissions is considered to be underestimated because certain aspects of waste management, such as the benefits of recycling or reducing transport of waste, are not fully considered in the current quantification methods.
What is the global average contribution of the waste sector to greenhouse gas emissions?
-The global average contribution of the waste sector, including wastewater, to greenhouse gas emissions is only 3-5%. However, this figure is believed to be an underestimate.
Outlines
π Climate Change and Waste Management
This paragraph introduces the link between waste management and climate change. It explains that global warming and climate change are primarily caused by human activities that increase greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The script highlights that methane is 25 times more potent than CO2, and nitrous oxide is 298 times more potent. It also introduces black carbon, a short-lived climate pollutant resulting from incomplete combustion of biomass, which is particularly relevant to waste management. The World Resources Institute's infograph is mentioned as a tool to explore different countries' and sectors' contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, with an example of Indonesia's waste sector contributing 8% to its total CO2 equivalent emissions.
π± Mitigating Greenhouse Gases in Waste Management
This section discusses various methods to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the waste management sector. It mentions landfill gas recovery and electricity production as an example from South Africa, where landfill gas is collected and transformed into electricity. The paragraph also covers other mitigation measures such as composting, anaerobic digestion, and thermal processes, which not only avoid emissions but also substitute other resources like chemical fertilizers or fossil fuels. The importance of waste minimization, recycling, and reuse in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is emphasized. The concept of carbon trading is introduced, including the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the voluntary market, with a focus on how projects in low and middle-income countries can earn carbon credits. The DoΓ±a Juana landfill in Bogota, Colombia, is given as an example of a successful CDM project that has significantly reduced CO2 equivalent emissions.
π± NAMA and Future Emission Reduction Strategies
The final paragraph summarizes the key points discussed in the module, including the sources of greenhouse gas emissions from waste management and strategies to reduce them, such as landfill gas recovery, waste diversion, and recycling. It also reviews carbon trading mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism, using the DoΓ±a Juana landfill project in Bogota as an example. The concept of NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) is introduced as a set of voluntary actions that countries undertake to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with an emphasis on the need for financial assistance from developed to developing countries. The paragraph concludes by thanking the listener for their attention.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Climate Change
π‘Greenhouse Gases
π‘Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
π‘Methane
π‘Nitrous Oxide
π‘Black Carbon
π‘CO2 Equivalents
π‘Landfill Gas Recovery
π‘Carbon Trading
π‘Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
π‘Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)
Highlights
Climate change is primarily caused by human activities, mainly through the increase in greenhouse gases.
Methane is 25 times more potent than CO2, and nitrous oxide is 298 times more potent.
Greenhouse gases are often compared to CO2 using a metric called tons of CO2 equivalents.
Black carbon, resulting from incomplete combustion of biomass, is an important short-lived climate pollutant.
Black carbon is typically produced by burning waste and is a topic of growing interest.
The waste sector contributes 3-5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through methane emissions from landfills.
The contribution of the waste sector to greenhouse gas emissions is believed to be underestimated.
Recycling and reducing transport of waste can significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
Around 10 to 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by waste management sector.
Landfill gas recovery and electricity production are effective methods for reducing emissions.
Waste minimization, recycling, and reuse indirectly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by conserving raw materials and avoiding fossil fuels.
Governments and companies can purchase emission reduction credits to offset their emissions.
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows projects in developing countries to earn carbon credits.
Waste-related projects account for approximately 18% of all CDM projects.
The DoΓ±a Juana landfill in Bogota, Colombia, is an example of a successful CDM project.
NAMA is a new concept introduced for voluntary commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
NAMA emphasizes the need for financial assistance from developed countries to developing countries to reduce emissions.
The module summarizes the link between waste management and climate change, and discusses methods for emission reduction.
Transcripts
Hi, in this module I'd like to talk about
the link between waste management and climate change. I'm quite sure that
you're familiar with the climate change challenge, but here just a reminder as a
small repetition. Global warming and climate change
refers to an increase in average global temperatures with various human activity
as the main cause for this.The increase in average global temperature is caused
primarily by increases in greenhouse gases, as shown here on the right.
Predominantly carbon dioxide but also other gases, such as methane, nitrous
oxide and other fluorinated industrial gases, which are however less relevant in the
waste management discussion. What you see in this list, is also this number, showing
how much more this gas would warm the earth over a hundred year period as
compared to carbon dioxide. So, methane is 25 times as potent as CO2 and nitrous
oxide even 298 times more potent. What is done in this
whole greenhouse gas discussion, is to relate these different gases to CO2,
using this number. And the unit is then tons of CO2 equivalents. Besides the gases
research has also identified another substance that can have a large impact
on climate and its relevance to the waste management sector. This is called
black carbon, which are small black particles in the atmosphere, resulting
from incomplete combustion of biomass. Black carbon has been recognized as an
important short lived
climate pollutant. Black carbon is not yet included in the whole emission
quantification as there is yet no good or agreed metric to compare black
carbon with other greenhouse gases. As mentioned, black carbon is a typical
result of burning waste. This whole issue of black carbon is clearly a topic of
growing interest, which in future will need much more attention and research.
Now, let us have a look, how different countries and how the waste sector
contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. This infograph of the World
Resources Institute allows you to look at different countries and sectors
contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. The inner circle differentiates between
the top 10 countries and the others. The countries are then shown in the middle
section with the top 10 shown in colors. Finally, the outer circle shows the
emission contributions by sector. First, we shall click on Indonesia, shown here
in bright red. The total CO2 equivalent emissions are 760 tons,
as shown in the grey bar above. While the waste emissions are 69 tons, so
the contribution of the waste sector is 8%. Why don't you google this infograph
and search for your own country in the list and the emissions contribution of
the waste sector. Compare this with other countries and share your views on this in our forum.
In the global average, the waste sector including wastewater
contributes only 3-5% of the global greenhouse gas emissions.
This is mainly through methane emissions from landfills, methane and nitrous
oxide from wastewater and some minor CO2 and nitrous oxide from burning of fossil
carbon. However, experts agree that this contribution is severely underestimated
because certain
aspects of waste management are not considered. For instance, the contribution
of recycling or of reducing transport of waste through recycling. It has been
estimated at around ten to twenty percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions could be reduced by the waste management sector. This can be by
projects that recover landfill gas to either flare it or convert it to
electricity or by methods adapting the landfill management. For instance,
landfill aeriation to avoid methane generation or also by utilizing cover
soil as a way to reduce methane emissions from landfills through the
methane
oxidizing effect of soil bacteria. Here is an example of landfill gas recovery
and electricity production from South Africa. On the left, you can see the
landfill in its early stages being filled, and on the right, the infrastructure
where the collected landfill gas is transformed to electricity.
In the background of the picture on the right you can see the final landfill cells
with soil and grass cover. Other greenhouse gas mitigation measures are
avoiding disposal in landfills either by composting anaerobic digestion or
thermal processes. Here is not only the effect of meeting avoidance that play a
role but also the substitution of other resources. For composting, this is
substitution of chemical fertilizer which are energy intense in their
production. Or for anaerobic digestion and combustion it may be the
substitution of fossil fuel energy resources.
Finally, in addition also waste minimization recycling and reuse
represent an important and increasing potential for indirect reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions through the conservation of
raw materials and fossil fuel avoidance. Any government or individual company is
free to choose how they will reduce emissions. One mechanism is that they
purchase emission reduction credits or allowances from other sources, for
instance from waste management project in low and middle income countries, which
have mitigated emissions of CO2 equivalents. They're different schemes
that help regulate and control these emission reduction units. The clean
Development Mechanism CDM is a market-based mechanism under the Kyoto
Protocol where projects in developing countries can earn carbon credits
equivalent to the amount of CO2 they have reduced or avoided. These credits
can then be used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their
emission reduction targets. This is what is called the compliance market based on
the Kyoto Protocol agreements of each country. CDM has registered methodologies
on how emission reductions are calculated, but also standardized and monitored and
also verified as these for their registered projects before issuing the certified
emission reduction units. Similarly the carbon finance unit of the World Bank
uses money by governments and companies in OECD countries to purchase carbon
credits, generated by projects in low- and middle-income countries. Finally, there is
also a voluntary market, which uses other certification measures and standards to
issue voluntary emission reduction units. Waste related projects account for
approximately 18% of all CDM projects. Since the beginning of CDM, around 200
municipal solid waste project have been registered worldwide. However, nearly 90%
of registered solid waste projects involve landfill gas flaring
and recovering.
And most of these projects have been submitted by middle-income countries.
the lowest income countries have generally not yet
benefitted from this mechanism. Here is an example from the DoΓ±a Juana
landfill in Bogota Colombia. It is one of the largest Clean Development Mechanism
projects in Latin America. The project started in 2009 and was 100% operational by
the end of 2010. For the period of January to June 2015, the emission
reduction amounted to 340000 tons of CO2 equivalent.
Total greenhouse gas emission reduction is estimated to be 14.8
million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the entire 22 year life of the
project. After the climate conference in Bali in 2007, a new concept was
introduced: the nationally appropriate mitigation action NAMA. This refers to a
set of policies and actions that country's undertake as a voluntary
commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It recognizes that different
countries may take different actions depending on their respective
capabilities. It also emphasizes the need of financial assistance from developed
countries to developing countries, to reduce emissions. It can include a wide
range of actions: policies, strategies, research or development, even training
and capacity development, and of course projects. So, let me summarize what we
have covered in this module. We have talked about greenhouse gas emissions, in
general but specifically also from waste management. We've talked about how
greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced, either by landfill gas recovery or
diversions from landfills or waste minimization recycling
and reuse. We looked at different carbon trading measures, specifically at the
clean development mechanisms, with one example from Bogota, Colombia and we looked
towards the future with the new mechanisms such as NAMA. Thank you for
listening.
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