The Mitigation of Methane Emission Hot-spots in Municipal Landfills project hosted a one-day training workshop for partners and local stakeholders from the Region of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ and waste management company GFL Environmental. This student-led workshop highlighted the project team’s key advances in methane detection at hot-spots in local landfills and offered the opportunity for partners to learn and experience emerging technologies used by the project up close.
Team members Nathanel Willms, Sandani Pathirana, Avery Opalka, Mu-An Tsai, Sina Talebi Moghaddam and Arpan Singh led the workshop. They began by presenting their research on: the analysis of microbes present in landfill cover soils that play a key role in methane cycling (Nathanael Willms); the measurement of methane at landfills using methane flux gas chamber technology (Sandani Pathirana); and, the use of infrared imaging using hyperspectral camera technology and a Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscope (TDLAS) system to detect methane fluxes at hot-spots in landfills (Avery Opalka and Mu-An Tsai).
Following the presentations, participants moved over to a make-shift lab where the hyperspectral camera and TDLAS were on full display, including a recreation of a landfill hot-spot complete with methane flux releases. Participants were able to try some hands-on measurements and see the technology in action. Next, participants visited the campus greenhouse to see simulations of methane flux from landfill cover soils using gas chamber technology.
The workshop provided an opportunity to showcase research from the project to stakeholders, for knowledge exchange between researchers and stakeholders, and for stakeholders to assess the potential for using the latest methods, tools and technologies from the project in the context of emerging regulations.