[HN Gopher] Landfills Leak More Planet-Baking Methane Than We Th...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Landfills Leak More Planet-Baking Methane Than We Thought
        
       Author : frasermarlow
       Score  : 18 points
       Date   : 2024-04-07 20:40 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (grist.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (grist.org)
        
       | happytiger wrote:
       | Don't a lot of places capture methane from their landfills for
       | energy? How can the quantities be unknown when you're capturing
       | and messing the output gases? This can't be some magical
       | surprise.
        
         | cyanydeez wrote:
         | No. Only obscenely large ones do so. It's not really required
         | unless you are taking in huge amounts.
        
       | RecycledEle wrote:
       | With every single thing in anthropogenic climate change being
       | worse than we thought, sea levels should be rising faster than we
       | thought. That means valuable ocean-front property should be
       | sinking into the sea.
       | 
       | That means ocean-front property should be uninsurable and nearly
       | worthless.
       | 
       | Let's check that against reality.
       | 
       | Oh look, there's no change. I wonder why the insurance and real
       | estate markets are not responding at all to all ocean-front
       | property soon becoming worthless?
        
         | DangitBobby wrote:
         | Exactly, I mean, if climate change was actually impacting
         | anyone, people with skin in the game would be adjusting to it.
         | Especially insurance companies, who can only make a profit if
         | their models accurately assess risks. Obviously it's all
         | bullshit since no insurance companies are pulling out of
         | states, reducing coverage, or increasing premiums in states
         | disproportionately affected by catastrophic weather events.
         | 
         | Well, except for the ones that are doing exactly that.
         | 
         | https://www.newsweek.com/florida-insurance-crisis-explained-...
        
         | mschuster91 wrote:
         | > I wonder why the insurance and real estate markets are not
         | responding at all to all ocean-front property soon becoming
         | worthless?
         | 
         | Insurances _are_ already reacting. Just a few days ago there
         | was an article showing how home insurances are cancelling
         | contracts based on drone and other aerial surveillance, yeeting
         | people for the horror of having a trampoline in their garden.
         | And beyond that, insurance companies are pulling out of risky
         | markets... and of course, people are crying foul and want the
         | government to bail them out [1].
         | 
         | Edit: Seems like you've been downvoted to grey - I don't get
         | why, because (other than not being aware about recent
         | developments in insurance markets) you _are_ raising a
         | legitimate question.
         | 
         | [1]
         | https://eu.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/columns/2024/03/1...
        
       | kyleperik wrote:
       | I have seen little consideration made to the carbon cycle which
       | produced this result of methane output in landfills.
       | 
       | It doesn't come from nothing. Methane is a compound generally
       | produced by the breaking down of organic compounds in the absence
       | of oxygen (anaerobic decomposition)
       | 
       | Organic compounds generally gain carbon from the atmosphere. So
       | where is the extra carbon entering the system?
       | 
       | Should the focus not be on disposal methods but on ensuring
       | sustainable regeneration of farmland in this case?
        
         | gruez wrote:
         | >Should the focus not be on disposal methods but on ensuring
         | sustainable regeneration of farmland in this case?
         | 
         | Isn't "sustainable regeneration of farmland" (whatever that
         | means) orthogonal to methane being generated from landfills?
         | After all, food waste in landfills generate the same amount of
         | carbon regardless of how they're farmed. It's not like a
         | rotting tomato that's grown using "sustainable regeneration of
         | farmland" magically emits less methane than one that's grown
         | conventionally.
        
         | angusb wrote:
         | Plastics in landfill also break down to make methane. The
         | carbon source in this case is fossil fuel.
         | 
         | Also, if the food gains the carbon as CO2 but releases it on
         | decomposition as CH4, that's a big increase in GHG potential,
         | we want to avoid that.
         | 
         | Moreover it shouldn't matter the original carbon source - if we
         | have the opportunity to capture some methane from concentrated
         | point source like a landfill we should be jumping at it. One of
         | the easiest marginal tons of CO2e saved
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-04-07 23:01 UTC)