As COP31 comes to Turkey, satellites reveal landfill methane problem
SEYMEN, Turkey — In the countryside west of Istanbul, trucks line up to empty mixed household waste from the city of 16 million people onto a vast landscape of decomposing rubbish, where landfill gas is captured to generate electricity at a nearby plant. But far above the seagulls circling the waste, satellites detect what the plant has failed to capture: methane escaping at a rate that ranks it…
SEYMEN, Turkey — In the countryside west of Istanbul, trucks unload mixed household waste onto a vast expanse of decomposing rubbish, where methane gas is captured and used to generate electricity at a nearby plant. However, satellites observe methane leaking from the site at a rate that classifies it among the world's largest landfill emitters of the gas.
Turkey currently hosts COP31, the United Nations climate conference, in Antalya from November 9 to 20, with methane reduction identified as a priority for the summit. Methane is the second-largest contributor to climate change, following carbon dioxide (CO2), and is over 80 times more potent in its initial 20 years in the atmosphere.
Consequently, significant reductions could swiftly slow down warming. Turkey's waste management sector exemplifies the potential and challenges of attaining rapid methane cuts. The nation ranks fifth globally in methane emissions from solid waste, trailing China, the United States, Russia, and Brazil, according to data from the non-profit emissions tracker Climate TRACE. Analysis of satellite observations reveals this issue.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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