As a decision on Ballarat’s future in waste to energy nears, City of Ballarat is investing in other ways to use waste as a resource.
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Smythesdale landfill gas management contractor LMS is expanding the site’s ability to generate electricity from methane gas.
The company will install a new turbine at the site to turn methane gas produced from waste into electricity that is fed into the grid.
Methane gas is created by the settling and maturing of waste. It is captured by a pipe system and fed into aturbine.
Excess gas after the turbine reaches capacity is burnt as part of the gas management process.
Methane gas capture has been in place at the Smythesdale landfill site since the early 2000s.
City of Ballarat director of infrastructure and environment Terry Demeo said the new turbine would increase the capacity to use gas as a resource rather than burn it.
“LMS is also installing a better extraction system with pipe networks throughout layers of waste to capture more gas,” he said.
Methane gas management is a part of EPA compliance for landfill.