Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. So how is Sask. reducing emissions?

The sound is almost deafening.

An industrial compactor drags hundreds of pounds of garbage along the ground at the City of Regina landfill, crunching as it collides with other heaping piles.

Under the surface of all that garbage, something that can't be seen or smelled is collecting: methane gas.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that, according to the Government of Canada, is estimated to be responsible for about 30 per cent of observed global warming to date.

Methane is found in many places around the world — from landfills, to wetlands, to the production of oil and gas.

In 2020, Saskatchewan produced more than 15,500 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in methane emissions. Canada as a whole produced 92,000 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent that same year.

Industry and governments say work is being done to reduce methane emissions. So what does that entail?

Regina's landfill is one of the city's main producers of methane gas.

"When the garbage decomposes in the landfill, there's no oxygen in the hill," said Shelley Wellman, environmental services manager with the City of Regina. "So through the degradation process, methane is what's produced."

In 2008, wells were installed within the landfill to capture methane gas. Until 2017, that gas was flared from a stack.

While this process reduced the harmful effects of methane, it converted it into carbon dioxide, still releasing a greenhouse gas.

That's where the gas to energy plant came into play in 2017.

The $5-million facility takes the methane from the 51 wells, then cools and purifies it, all while computers carefully track its progress.

From there, the methane is used as fuel for an engine in another section of the plant, producing up to a megawatt of power. That's sold off to SaskPower, which gives the city about $1 million per year to power up to 1,000 homes in Regina with the generated electricity.