Roghan Road Landfill Gas Project

Roghan Road Landfill Gas Project is a landfill gas project located at a closed municipal solid waste site in Fitzgibbon, approximately 15km north of the Brisbane CBD in Queensland. It was registered in November 2012 and operates across a 65-hectare refuse footprint.

Landfill gas projects involve the installation of gas extraction wells and piping networks to capture methane generated by decomposing organic waste. Under standard requirements for this methodology, the captured biogas must be safely combusted through a flaring unit or used to generate renewable electricity, which safely converts the highly potent methane into carbon dioxide and water, significantly reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The Fitzgibbon area is predominantly an urban and suburban residential zone within the greater Brisbane region. The area experiences a sub-tropical climate classified by high rainfall, featuring hot, wet summers and cool, dry winters. The local geology typically features coastal sandy loams and alluvial clay, and these local subsoils and clays were utilised in geotechnical trials at the site to construct impermeable capping layers capable of managing sub-tropical rainwater percolation.

This transitioning project captures and combusts gas from both legacy and non-legacy waste. While the project was originally contracted to deliver abatement under EDL LFG (QLD) Pty Ltd, Brisbane City Council assumed the sole participant name in 2019 and closely collaborates with LGI Limited to manage the site's flaring infrastructure and operations. Interestingly, the closed Roghan Road landfill was previously selected for a national study by Forest & Wood Products Australia, where researchers excavated up to 6.5 metres deep and discovered that engineered wood products (such as MDF and particleboard) remained completely intact, proving their long-term carbon storage capabilities in sub-tropical landfill conditions. Additionally, carbon credits (ACCUs) generated by this project have been purchased and retired by major commercial entities, including Viva Energy, to offset corporate diesel emissions.