Qube Technologies Leads in Continuous Methane Monitoring: Independent Trials Confirm Best-in-Class Landfill Performance
Qube’s continuous monitoring solution installed at WM’s Petrolia landfill.
Introduction
Methane emissions from landfills represent a persistent challenge—not only for environmental integrity but also for operational performance and resource recovery. With methane accounting for approximately 10% of global anthropogenic emissions, accurately tracking its release is essential to improving landfill management and advancing broader sustainability efforts.
Recent independent studies from St. Francis Xavier University’s FluxLab, supported by the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF), evaluated leading methane monitoring technologies at a working landfill site. The results? Qube Technologies delivered the most accurate and cost-effective performance among all continuous monitoring systems tested.
For landfill operators seeking to enhance operational visibility and retain product, this validation is a clear signal: Qube’s continuous emissions monitoring technology is a practical, scalable solution.
The Operational Challenge: Reliable Methane Emissions Monitoring
Landfills are constantly evolving environments. Methane emissions rise and fall with shifts in temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, waste composition, and daily operations like waste disposal and well maintenance. Traditional monitoring—performed on fixed schedules—often fails to capture these fluctuations, leading to underreporting, overestimation, or delays in responding to leaks.
Continuous monitoring changes that. It delivers high-resolution, real-time data that reflects actual field conditions—enabling faster responses, more precise system tuning, and better-informed investments in gas collection and control systems.
EREF/FluxLab Study #1 (2023): Strong Performance Under Constraints
In 2023, Qube Technologies’ system was included in a blind trial at WM’s Petrolia landfill. A research partner deployed Qube’s sensors without guidance from Qube’s engineers, placing just three units around a 60-acre site. Yet even under these conditions, Qube was the top performer among all continuous monitoring solutions tested.
Highlights of the First Study:
Top-ranked accuracy in continuous monitoring methane quantification.
Strong performance without sensor optimization, demonstrating Qube’s adaptability.
Excerpts from the study:
“One RPSEA methodology [Qube Technologies] did perform well. Perhaps more impressively, the technology producer did not know they were participating, since a third party brought their sensor to the experiment. The technology producer may have preferred a different placement, but the results are promising”
"Estimates from [Qube Technologies] provided the closest measurements to actual emission values compared to the other continuous sensors (Fig. 1). Continuous sensors offer a low-maintenance method of measuring emissions compared to other vendors."
“Ultimately, there is no best vendor or methodology for quantification measurements, because the costs of these measurements may limit use to once per year. Frequent measurements [like Qube’s 24/7 monitoring] can appreciably lift the value of inherently lower precision methods, and help capture temporal variation across daily, seasonal, and annual cycles."
Figure 1. Parity charts of controlled release tests for continuous monitoring technologies for the first study (2023). The dashed reference line shows the 1:1 parity relationship, and the dotted line represents the vendor parity relationship with actual emission values. Of the three vendors tested, Qube demonstrated the closest results to the actual emission values.
EREF/FluxLab Study #2 (2024): Enhanced Accuracy through Optimized Sensor Deployment
In the follow-up study, Qube was brought in as an active participant, allowing for optimized sensor placement and full system configuration. The payoff was clear: greater precision, tighter variance, and consistently accurate methane quantification, even through challenging weather like heavy rain and high winds.
By optimizing its setup, Qube improved on an already strong performance, reinforcing its position as the leading solution for continuous landfill methane monitoring.
Key Improvements in the Second Trial:
R² increased from 0.7885 to 0.8404, reflecting reduced variance from controlled release rates (Fig. 2).
Expanded sensor deployment and improved analytics contributed to reduced bias and stronger reliability.
Qube maintained the top position for continuous monitoring, functioning through inclement weather.
Figure 2. Parity charts of controlled release tests for continuous monitoring technologies for the second study (2023). The dashed reference line shows the 1:1 parity relationship and the dotted line represents the vendor parity relationship with actual emission values. Three continuous monitoring vendors were tested, with one vendor choosing not to release results. Qube remained the most accurate solution and improved variance from an R2 of 0.7885 in the first study to 0.8404.
How Qube Technologies Delivered Strong Results
The FluxLab trials tested each technology under tough, real-world conditions—from shifting weather to the complex terrain of landfill sites. At one point, severe rainfall caused testing to be halted to excavate the buried gas release system. Qube’s system held steady. Built for the world’s harshest environments, Qube’s sensors participated throughout the full testing campaign, demonstrating why it’s considered the most resilient and reliable solution on the market.
While additional data from the study is still forthcoming, the results to date are clear: Qube consistently outperformed other continuous monitoring systems, offering superior precision in methane quantification along with cost-effective, scalable deployment.
The Standard for Continuous Landfill Emissions Monitoring
Qube Technologies' superior performance in EREF/FluxLab studies not only highlights its technical capabilities but also its readiness to meet environmental and ESG reporting requirements. By providing landfill operators with accurate, continuous emissions data, Qube enables proactive environmental stewardship and operational cost savings.
Learn more about how Qube Technologies is supporting methane emissions monitoring at landfills:
Contact Qube today to schedule a free demo.