Capture and Combustion of Landfill Gas from Benaraby Landfill Project

Capture and Combustion of Landfill Gas from Benaraby Landfill Project is a landfill gas electricity generation project located at the Benaraby Regional Landfill, approximately 20 kilometres south of Gladstone in Queensland. Registered in January 2013, the project is operated by LGI Limited in partnership with the Gladstone Regional Council. While the specific project area covers the extent of the waste facility, it operates within a region defined by a mix of heavy industrial activity, rural grazing, and forestry operations.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology involves the installation of a network of wells and piping to extract methane (biogas) generated by decomposing organic waste. Instead of allowing this potent greenhouse gas to escape into the atmosphere, it is captured and combusted. In this specific project, the gas is used to fuel a power station, converting the methane into carbon dioxide and generating renewable electricity.

Environmentally, the Benaraby area sits within a subtropical climate zone characterized by summer-dominant rainfall, with the broader Gladstone region receiving approximately 880mm of rain annually. The surrounding landscape typically features texture-contrast soils, including tertiary clays, gravels, and mottled duplex soils, which support the local dry sclerophyll woodlands and grazing pastures outside the landfill boundaries.

A notable feature of this project is its longevity and technical evolution; it has transitioned through multiple methodology variations (from the original CFI legacy waste method to the 2015 and 2021 determinations) to maintain compliance. The site hosts a 1MW renewable power station commissioned in 2016, which supplies dispatchable power to the local grid. The project successfully completed a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC342427) with the Australian Government and was part of an initiative that saw the Gladstone Regional Council win a National Award for Local Government in 2017.