Methane emissions from landfills are a key contributor to climate change. In the TWOS project, SRON works together with the Global Methane Hub, GHGSat, and local partners to support mitigation of those emissions using satellite data. The first data are now publicly available through the WasteMAP platform.
Targeting Waste emissions Observed from Space (TWOS)
Waste is one of the key sources of methane, a greenhouse gas responsible for a third of global warming. With satellites we can detect methane emission plumes from individual solid waste disposal sites. In the Targeting Waste emissions Observed from Space (TWOS) project, SRON works together with the Global Methane Hub, GHGSat, and local partners to use these observations to mitigate emissions. They use the satellite data to raise awareness of emissions, improve emission estimates, pinpoint emissions within the site, prioritize emission mitigation, and monitor emissions over time.
10+ solid waste disposal sites in the Global South
Central to the project is the monthly monitoring of emissions from 10+ solid waste disposal sites in the Global South using high-resolution GHGSat satellite observations. These include landfills in Abidjan, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Dakar, Delhi, Lagos, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Santo Domingo, and São Paulo. For all sites, collaboration with local partners is key: “Access to reliable satellite data on methane emissions at the Mbeubeuss landfill is a key lever to strengthen our efforts toward sustainable waste management. Through the TWOS project, we now have concrete data to better target our interventions and actively contribute to local-level greenhouse gas mitigation.” Says Khalifa Ababacar SARR, Director General, National Company of Solid Waste Management (SONAGED), Senegal.
Within the project, data are shared with partners shortly after the observations. The GHGSat data obtained up to December 2024 have now also been publicly released to support a wider understanding of methane emissions. The release coincides with the Lowering Organic Waste Methane (LOW-Methane) event at London Climate Week. At the event, SRON participates in discussions on how data can be used to unlock financing for methane mitigation projects.
The data are made available through WasteMAP (Waste Methane Assessment Platform). ‘We’re proud to host SRON’s TWOS initiative methane plume observations on the WasteMAP platform. These GHGSat data provide critical visibility into methane emissions at key global sites, offering a valuable baseline for near-term validation, and enabling robust tracking of mitigation impacts over time. Integrating these insights into WasteMAP supports data-driven decision-making and accelerates progress toward cutting methane emissions at scale.’ Says Rose Wang, WasteMAP Product Manager, RMI.
WasteMAP is developed by RMI and CATF with support by the Global Methane Hub, it is an open online platform that aggregates existing sectoral data globally, including national inventory data, city-level data, and facility-level data.