IG3IS Webinar Series (Q1-Q2, 2025): Tracking waste emissions at the local scale using atmospheric observations 

Icon
(Europe/Zurich: 26 June 2025, 18:00 - 19:30)

Dr. Felix Vogel is a research scientist with the Climate Research Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada and leads the subnational greenhouse gas monitoring team, which focusses on estimating greenhouse gas emissions from provincial to facility scale using atmospheric observations and modelling tools. In recent years, work has focused on quantifying methane emissions in Canada using mobile platforms and continuous monitoring stations. Dr. Vogel is also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto (Department of Physics) and a co-chair of WMO/IG3IS.

Reducing methane emissions is essential to meeting near-term climate goals. In 2021, Canada joined the Global Methane Pledge, which is aimed at reducing global methane emissions by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. Faster and Further: Canada’s Methane Strategy, published in 2022, describes methane reduction measures and supporting programs. Measurement, reporting and verification of methane emissions is critical to tracking progress and supporting regulatory developments. However, there can be large and consistent discrepancies between reported methane emissions and emissions derived using atmospheric observations. This presentation highlights the importance of atmospheric observations of methane as an independent tool to assess reported emissions from the waste sector at urban and facility scale. Using the mobile Atmospheric Composition and Environmental Survey platform (ACES), methane concentration data was collected in multiple Canadian regions and emissions from different sources were quantified. The current state of the art as well as efforts to improve atmospheric emission quantification methodologies will be presented. Results for major facilities and urban infrastructure are compared to official reporting as well as city-specific inventories.

Icon
For any queries, please contact: jtasneem@wmo.int
Share: