§ Mr. FraserTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make an assessment of the current emissions of methyl gas from landfill sites and its implications for global warming.
§ Mr. MacleanOnly a very rough estimate of methane emissions from landfill sites has been possible in the past because of considerable uncertainties in the basic information used to calculate a national figure. My Department has accordingly commissioned research by the energy technology support unit of DTI. Based on this research, our best estimate for methane emissions from landfill in the United Kingdom is approximately 2 million tonnes per annum, but with a possible range between 0.6 and 5 million tonnes per annum. These estimates will be revised and updated as more information on the factors affecting methane generation from landfill is obtained.
Methane is the second most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. The Government are 367W aiming to publish a national programme to meet the United Nations climate change convention commitment to return emissions of all greenhouse gases to their 1980 levels by the year 2000.