Queensland council leaders looked into landfill biogas extraction at an open day at the Toowoomba Waste Management Centre.
The event, a joint initiative between Toowoomba Regional Council and LGI Limited saw Mayors, Chief Executive Officers and Waste Managers from Goondiwindi Regional Council, Lismore City Council, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, South Burnett Regional Council, Southern Downs Regional Council and Western Downs Regional Council learn how methane emissions from landfill can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and be transformed into renewable energy.
In a Queensland first, biogas recovered from the Toowoomba Waste Management Centre (Hermitage Road) is collected and converted into electricity via LGI’s recently commissioned power station. The initiative reduces Toowoomba Regional Council’s greenhouse gas emissions while powering the Wetalla Water Reclamation Facility, one of council’s highest energy users, with renewable energy.
This power project aligns with the Queensland Government’s Energy and Jobs Plan which has set a renewable energy target of 70 per cent by 2032.
LGI Chief Operating Officer, Jarryd Doran said council leaders could save millions of dollars for their communities by going green using landfill biogas extraction as well as having long-term certainty of their cost of energy.
“Toowoomba Regional Council is a shining example of what can be achieved when councils embrace green initiatives and implement environmentally responsible and sustainable practices,” Doran said. “In addition to powering the Wetalla Water Reclamation Facility, surplus energy generated by LGI’s Toowoomba power station can also be fed into the National Electricity Grid.
“The partnership sees Toowoomba Regional Council receive a percentage of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU) generated by the project.”
LGI’s carbon cutting approach of using technologies to capture and abate methane emissions from landfills and generate 24/7 renewable energy are used throughout Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT, with 15 councils across 26 sites, including eight producing renewable energy.