Ma, S;
Lu, M;
Yang, G;
Zhi, Y;
Ouyang, Z;
Meng, J;
Zheng, H;
... Zhou, C; + view all
(2025)
Carbon-negative transition by utilizing overlooked carbon in waste landfills.
Innovation Geoscience
, 3
(1)
pp. 15-25.
10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2024.100109.
Preview |
PDF
Carbon-negative+transition+by+utilizing+overlooked+carbon+in+waste+landfills.pdf - Published Version Download (20MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Landfills play a crucial role in urban climate solutions, as the decomposition of their “hidden” carbon stock contributes to 8.8% of global methane emissions. While controlling landfill gas emissions is the most commonly used intervention, a systematic approach to manage the carbon cycle in landfills remains elusive. In this study, we developed a quantitative solid-water-gas coupling model to estimate the carbon stock in landfills across 346 cities in China. Our findings reveal a standing landfill carbon stock 506.3 ± 4.2 Tg, which could potentially substitute for 20% of soil organic carbon in green spaces and 1 year of residential electricity consumption of cities. Our scenario analyses show that by implementing a life-cycle package of interventions (incl., input minimization, stock utilization, and leakage reduction), the total carbon stock in landfills could be reduced to 230.1 Tg with a negative annual carbon emission (-57.1 Tg CO2 eq/year) reached by 2030. These interventions could cumulativly cut greenhouse gas (GHG) by 753.3 Tg, representing 62.2% of the landfill-related GHG emissions and 2.0% of China’s carbon debt towards the 1.5°C warming targets. Landfill mining contributes 52.3% of these reductions, while in-situ aerobic restoration accounts for 14.4%, positioning landfills as a potential carbon-negative sector that can drive cities towards carbon-neutrality.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Carbon-negative transition by utilizing overlooked carbon in waste landfills |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2024.100109 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2024.100109 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | landfill, carbon stock, greenhouse gases, municipal solid waste, city, scenarios |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10206837 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
