ESTIMATION OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM LANDFILLS: APPLICATION TO THE AKROTIRI LANDFILL SITE (CHANIA, GREECE)

Landfilling is one of the most common ways of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal in developing countries. Air pollutants emitted from landfills contributes to the emission in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases and cause serious problems to the human health. Methane emission from landfill is serious environmental global concern as it accounts for approximately 15 percentages of current greenhouse gas emissions. The current study was focused on the determination of air emissions from the Akrotiri landfill site which is located at the Akrotiri area (Chania, Greece). The models used are the triangular model, the stoichiometric model and LandGEM model. These models are used to estimate the total landfill gas production from a given amount of waste. The models differ on their scientific approach for the quantification on emissions, their complexity and input data requirements. The LandGEM model was selected for the determination of more representative assessed landfill gas emission rates. The maximum biogas production rate by the LandGEM model was calculated to be 1.64 x 10(3) Mg yr(-1) and was observed during the year 2008 for the A phase of the landfill, while for the B phase the maximum biogas production rate was 2.70 x 10(3) Mg yr(-1) and was observed during 2014.