Innovation heating up
EACH hour, the Hermitage Road landfill generates a significant amount of harmful methane from garbage decomposing underground.
While most of the gas remains trapped, it is still a significant threat to Toowoomba’s greenhouse gas footprint.
Rather than let it seep into the atmosphere, the Toowoomba Regional Council has sunk gas wells into the landfill, harvesting the methane to drive a one-megawatt turbine at the Wetalla water reclamation facility.
Yesterday the council launched a six-month test that involved siphoning the gas and burning it to measure its volume and potency.
Data from the test will help waste management staff fine tune the turbine that is expected to generate about 60 per cent of Wetalla’s energy needs.
Councillor Rebecca Vonhoff said it was a win-win for both the environment and ratepayers.
“It is smart, and it makes a lot of sense,” she said.
“I am thrilled to see innovation take centre stage, and it is innovation that will deliver environmental benefits.”
On the scale of harmful greenhouse gases, methane is about 20 times worse than carbon dioxide.
Previously the council burnt landfill methane, converting it to carbon dioxide.
While the new system will continue that conversion, using the heat it generates to drive a turbine will reduce the amount of electricity drawn from the state power grid.
It is estimated the methane turbine would offset 28,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.