Gracemere landfill now has a new technological development to help fight air pollution.
The new ‘Biogas Flare’ has been installed on a trial basis by LMS Energy and works by extracting harmful greenhouse gases, such as methane, and converting it into a cleaner emission.
Waste and Recycling Councillor Shane Latcham says it’s fantastic to see the trial underway and it will help Rockhampton council determine what future environmental initiatives are required at the site.
“The biogas flare might not look like much from the outside, but there’s a lot going on below the surface,” he says.
“As the site has not received waste for many years, the volumes of biogas that are being generated are not known, so the trial is expected to indicate whether permanent extraction and methane destruction is required to help reduce the carbon footprint of the landfill.
“If volumes of biogas are minimal, ongoing extraction and flaring of biogas won’t be needed.”
Councillor Latcham says the biogas system has been successfully operating at the Lakes Creek Road Waste Management Facility over the past two years.
“Residents travelling along Lakes Creek Road may have noticed some additional activity at the Lakes Creek Road Waste Management Facility in recent weeks – LMS Energy has been busy installing additional wells into Cell A1 of our ‘piggyback’ landfill,” he says.
“Since its installation in November 2020, the innovative biogas flare system has saved the equivalent of around 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the earth’s atmosphere.
“That’s the equivalent of taking more than 20,000 Australian cars off the road for a whole year.
“Our local landfill sites are not just a ‘dump’ – we are managing waste differently as, we move toward a future with zero waste.”
