The GTA Urban Emissions Project

Welcome to our site!
We are a group of University of Toronto researchers investigating methane gas emissions in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Overview

Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas with a warming potential about 30 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). In order to reduce methane emissions in the Greater Toronto Area, we must first know two things: how much methane we are emitting, and where methane emissions are coming from. The GTA Urban Emissions Project works to answer these two questions by analyzing existing methane emissions data and taking our own methane measurements via a mobile laboratory. Although we try to measure methane at a variety of sites around the GTA, there are areas we have missed, and we benefit greatly from the perspective of citizens familiar with these areas. No matter where in the GTA you live, we need your feedback and ideas about methane enhancements (unusually high levels of methane) in your area.

What can I find on this site?

I want to...

Report a source or cause of emissions.

View a map.

The Emissions Reporting Tool menu has information on how to spot a methane enhancement, as well as forms to submit an enhancement report and a cause report. The Maps menu has visualizations of the data we've collected as part of this project. You can view measurements currently being made, search our entire archive of measurements, view a visualization of methane hotspots around the GTA, and see past and present maps of Emissions Reporting Tool reports.

View or download data or code.

Not sure yet, just exploring!

You can find our Github and Dataverse pages, as well as contact information and social media links for the lab, at the bottom of every page, including this one. Check out our About page for more information about the project, our funding, or the lab instruments we use.