Microbial oxidation of methane has attracted interest as an alternative process for treating landfill gas emissions. Approaches have included enhanced landfill cover layers and biocovers, passive gas drainage and biofiltration, and active gas extraction and biofiltration. Previous research has shown that microbial methane oxidation is affected by a number of factors, many of which are dependent on the environment in which the process is occurring. The aim of this research was to evaluate the behaviour and performance of a passive landfill gas drainage and biofiltration system operating in a temperate climate, and to identify and quantify the factors that determine the behaviour and performance of the system under such conditions. To achieve this a series of field trials were undertaken in Sydney, Australia, over a period of 4 years. The trials were designed to evaluate the effect of a range of factors, including landfill gas loading rate, temperature and moisture content of the biofilter media, biofilter media characteristics, and climatic conditions. The results of the field trials showed that a passive gas drainage and biofiltration system operating in a temperate climate can achieve methane oxidation efficiencies > 90% and that the behaviour and performance of a passive gas drainage and biofiltration system is primarily dependent on 3 factors: the landfill gas loading rate, which varies; the temperature of the biofilter media, which is affected by the temperature of the landfill gas being treated, the level of microbial activity occurring in the biofilter, and local climatic conditions; and the moisture conditions within of the biofilter media, which is affected by local climatic conditions and the characteristics of the biofilter media. Relationships between these factors and the performance of a passive biofilter operating in a temperate climate were developed, where able. A number of design concepts for passive landfill gas drainage and biofiltration were developed. A process for assessing the feasibility of applying the concepts and designing a passive landfill gas drainage and biofiltration system was also developed. In addition, guidelines and recommendations for the design of a passive landfill gas drainage and biofiltration system operating in temperate climate were developed.

La découverte récente (2013) d'émissions de méthane microbien en rebord du plateau Aquitain (entre 140 et 220 m de profondeur d'eau) sur une bande s'étendant le long de 80 km du nord au sud entre le Cap Ferret et le Capbreton suscite des interrogations sur les modalités de mise en place et d'évolution spatio-temporelle du système fluide associé. Les indices fluides liés à ce système microbien, tels que les carbonates authigènes et les niveaux chargés en gaz, sont localisés dans la zone externe du plateau et s'étendent jusqu'à la partie haute de la pente continentale. Au regard de la géométrie des horizons régionaux, des indices géochimiques et des voies potentielles de migration du gaz, la source de la matière organique pour la génération de ce méthane microbien serait située dans les derniers clinoformes du Pléistocène supérieur, et permettrait la précipitation des carbonates sur une largeur dépendante de l'épaisseur de ces clinoformes. A l'est de ce système, donc plus proche du continent, la présence d'indices potentiels enfouis (carbonates authigènes ou gaz) permet de penser que d'autres systèmes fluide se sont développés au cours de la progradation de la marge Sud Aquitaine, et ce, possiblement depuis le Pliocène. Le développement du système fluide est ainsi étroitement lié à l'évolution de la marge Sud Aquitaine et dépend des flux sédimentaires qui régissent les apports de matière organique dans les unités progradantes. Le caractère unique de ce système microbien dans le Golfe de Gascogne et sa restriction à la marge Sud Aquitaine s'expliquerait essentiellement par le contrôle des apports sédimentaires continentaux. / The recent discovery (2013) of microbial methane emissions along the Aquitaine continental Shelf edge, south west of France (from 140 to 220 m of water depth), extending along 80 km N-S and 8 km E-W, questions about the initiation and temporal evolution of this fluid system. Several fluid evidences related to the microbial system at the edge of the Aquitaine Shelf, such as authigenic carbonates and gas-charged layers extend from the external shelf until the upper part of the continental slope. Based on regional horizon geometry, geochemical evidences and potential migration pathways, the organic source matter for microbial methane is most likely located within the last upper Pleistocene clinoforms of the South Aquitaine margin. Occurrence of potential buried fluid evidence at the east of the fluid system is interpreted as potential evidence for initiation of this fluid system during the Pliocene age. The fluid system initiation and its evolution would be strongly related to the evolution/progradation of the South Aquitaine Margin and thus to the sedimentary regime controlling sediment and organic matter supplies to the shelf and upper continental slope. This relation explains the fact that such fluid system is unique in the Bay of Biscay and is restricted to the South Aquitaine Margin.