Differentiating and mitigating methane emissions from fugitive leaks from natural gas distribution, historic landfills, and manholes in Montréal, Canada

Abstract

Rapidly reducing urban methane (CH₄) emissions is a critical component of strategies aimed at limiting climate change. Individual source measurements provide the detail necessary to develop actionable mitigation strategies and are highly complementary to mobile surveys and other top-down methods. Here we perform 615 individual source measurements in Montréal, Canada, to quantify CH₄ emissions from historic landfills, manholes, and fugitive emissions from natural gas (NG) distribution systems. We find that in 2020, historic landfills produced 901 (452 to 1,541, 95% c.i.) tons of CH₄, manholes emitted 786 (32 to 2,602, 95% c.i.) tons of CH₄, and NG distribution systems emitted 451 (176 to 843, 95% c.i.) tons of CH₄, placing them all within the top four CH₄ sources in Montréal. Methane emissions from both historic landfills and manholes are not accounted for in any greenhouse gas inventory. We find that geochemistry alone can not positively identify source subcategories (e.g., type of manhole or NG infrastructure) in almost all cases, although C₂:C₁ ratios can distinguish NG distribution sources from biogenic sources (historic landfills and manholes). Using our individual source measurements data, we show that historic landfills have the greatest potential CH₄ reductions but the highest mitigation costs, unless we target the highest emitting landfills. In contrast, CH₄ emissions from manholes can be reduced at low costs but reduction methods are commercially unavailable. For NG distribution, methods such as increasing repair rates for high-emitting industrial meters, can greatly reduce mitigation costs and emissions. Overall, our results highlight the role of individual source measurements in developing actionable CH₄ mitigation strategies to meet municipal, regional, and national climate action plans.