Council fires up for the future

Published on 05 November 2020

Councillor Shane Latcham, LMS Energy Client and Contract Manager Jason Dockerill, RRWR Manager Michael O'Keeffe.jpg

Rockhampton Region Waste and Recycling (RRWR) has ignited the fire on its journey toward a more sustainable future with the recent installation of an innovative biogas system. 

The Biogas Flare, installed by industry leaders LMS Energy, is a big step toward reducing the carbon footprint of the Lakes Creek Road Waste Management Facility. 

Waste to Resource Recovery Councillor Shane Latcham said it was fantastic to see this system up and running. 

“The Biogas Flare might not look like much from the outside, but there’s a lot going on below the surface – literally!” said Cr Latcham.

“There’s a series of 18 wells that have been drilled and installed throughout the landfill site.

“This system works by extracting potentially harmful greenhouse gases, such as methane, which are produced when organic matter in the landfill breaks down.  

“Instead of being trapped in the landfill or being emitted into the atmosphere, these biogases are now channelled to this flare where they’re safely destroyed.

“In the future we may even be able to add a power module to harness the energy generated from this process and put it back into the grid.

“This is a very exciting project, and LMS Energy has been great to work with every step of the way.”

Jason Dockerill, LMS Energy Contract and Client Manager, said it has been great to partner with Rockhampton Regional Council on this project.

“LMS has manufactured 100 landfill biogas flares similar to this one, all of which are continuing to safely remove and destroy harmful greenhouse gases across Australia,” said Mr Dockerill.

“This is a fantastic project that will have some real environmental benefits.

“Each year, this Biogas Flare at the Lakes Creek Road Waste Management Facility will save approximately 20,000 tonnes of carbon from entering the Earth’s atmosphere.”

To find out more about Council’s strategy to build a circular economy, and our vision to live in a community without waste, download the Rockhampton Regional Waste and Recycling Strategy available at www.rrc.qld.gov.au/rrwr