Maryland landfills pose bigger climate problem than previously thought.
'Throwing food away is more than wasteful. When it gets buried in a landfill, it generates methane, a climate-warming greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide.
A new report by the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project finds that Maryland’s municipal landfills are releasing much more methane than previously estimated.
The group estimates that rotting food and other waste in Maryland’s municipal landfills sent about 51,500 tons of methane into the atmosphere in 2017, the most recent year for which complete data were available. That was four times the 12,500 tons that had been estimated by the state Department of the Environment.
“This shows that Maryland really needs to do a better job of reducing, controlling and measuring greenhouse gases from landfills,” said Ryan Maher, an attorney with the group and lead author of the report. “We need to reduce our food waste, compost more and impose strong new air quality regulations that require improved methane controls systems at our state’s landfills.”'>>>
https://www.bayjournal.com/news/climate_change/maryland-landfills-pose-bigger-climate-problem-than-previously-thought/article_98a3214e-ce9d-11eb-a6d4-7f1de9f4b318.html?
((Repost from MD))
= new reply since forum marked as read
Appreciate that! 
Because, I think this is an interesting topic that also belongs in this group. Nothing special about Maryland landfills....the problem is everywhere.
My comment.....
Well, it sure beats what dumps used to look and smell like.....
back in the 60's when we occasionally went to the dump to get rid of stuff. Mountains of pushed up trash, open fires, all kinds of chemicals and rotting whatever. Rats were friendly, too.
Most improved landfills seem to understand the need to vent the methane gas. I see lots of upside down "J" PVC vents to address this issue. But, why not develop a system to harvest/capture the gas and turn it into electrical energy?
I am seeing lots of landfill's are being repurposed to include solar panel farms. So the juice provided, in part, from solar, can create more energy burning these waste gases. A symbiotic approach to electrical energy development.