Quantification of landfill gas emissions and energy production potential in Tirupati Municipal solid waste disposal site by LandGEM mathematical model

The present key challenges the world is currently facing are the environmental pollution, climate change and energy crisis. The anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide due to burning of fossil fuels for energy production and other greenhouse gas emissions are considered unsustainable, and whole world is having a paradigm shift towards the renewable energy. The one of the major contributor of the greenhouse gases like methane, carbon dioxide are the municipal solid waste landfill sites. The landfill sites contains nearly 50–60% of organic contents, and they undergo anaerobic decomposition with a help microbes in the waste dumps contribute to the higher percent of methane emissions. There is now enhanced public awareness on sustainable products, and commodities usage in their daily needs, hence the global warming can be slowed down and devise an environmentally sound sustainable society. The present study aimed to provide a methodology to quantify the amount of methane and carbon-di-oxide emitted from the Tirupati municipal solid waste dumpsite using LandGEM3.02 model and empirical equation to estimate the renewable energy potential. The method provided was simple and more accurate having higher efficiency in predicting the landfill emissions and subsequently the energy potential. The study shows that the energy emission potential are maximum to the waste with a higher fraction of biodegradable organic content. Therefore, the method can be implemented in all the landfills by the policy makers to predict the methane emissions and control the greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering the methane and carbon dioxide optimally for energy production.•Landfill gases are a primary constituent in greenhouse gases and has potential for energy production.•The results from this study showed an abundant quantity of methane and carbon dioxide are emitted from tripathi landfill site.•The study concludes that methane can be extracted and used as alternative source of sustainable energy.