This long-term study of greenhouse gas emissions from a wastewater treatment plant confirms the shortcoming of fixed emission factors to estimate the emissions.
Both the methane and nitrous oxide emissions at the Kralingseveer wastewater treatment plant under study exceeded the plant’s indirect carbon dioxide emission related to electricity consumption.
The plant under study showed a relatively high methane emission in comparison with other plants, which was related to the presence of anaerobic sludge treatment.
The nitrous oxide emission showed a seasonal dynamic, which is yet not fully understood.
Exploratory results suggest that compost, lava of activated carbon filters remove methane
from off-gas only to a small extent or not at all.