The Nova Scotia government has announced it will spend $242,060 on a new research project aimed at cutting methane emissions at the province’s largest landfills. There are seven landfill facilities across Nova Scotia. Researchers from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish will measure emissions at some of the sites, looking for ways to capture the methane before it enters the atmosphere. They’re also set to examine innovative methane recovery systems already used in Canada and around the world to find out if they can also be used in Nova Scotia. According to the federal government, global methane emissions are responsible for about 30 per cent of the rise in temperature to date and half a million premature deaths globally each year due to air pollution. When organic waste such as food, yard trimmings or paper products are put into landfills, it produces methane. Methane is more than 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide but is a more short-lived pollutant. It stays in the atmosphere for about a decade, unlike carbon dioxide, which stays for up to 200 years. “As a result, cutting methane emissions can quickly lower their atmospheric concentrations and help fight global warming In the near term,” reads the government’s webpage on reducing methane emissions. Funding for the St. FX University research project comes through the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund, a grant program that helps Nova Scotians adapt to climate change or mitigate its impacts. The province’s legislated greenhouse gas reduction targets are to be at least 53 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and to achieve net zero by 2050. A recently released progress report on these reduction targets shows the province is “on track” to meeting these goals, according to a news release. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
