How well do LFG collection and control systems manage fugitive methane emissions?
Even without early installation of LFG collection and control systems, landfills regulated under the NSPS will flare or burn in LFG energy facilities the majority of methane they generate over the long term. An IPCC report asserts that the average fraction of LFG collected over the long term may be as low as 20 percent. This percentage is for the low end of the range of estimates in the literature for landfills with “less efficient or only partial gas extraction systems.”4 Additionally, the data presented in the IPCC report are based on landfills observed in operation around the world across a wide range of conditions. However, landfill and LFG collection operations in the United States are well established. The same IPCC report also states that more than 90 percent recovery can be achieved at cells with final cover and an efficient gas extraction system. This higher estimate is based on intensive field studies of the methane mass balance at landfills.5 Other similar studies conducted
