Stuart Landfill Gas Project

The Stuart Landfill Gas Project is a waste emissions avoidance project located at the Stuart Waste Facility, approximately 12 kilometers south of the Townsville CBD in Queensland. Registered in August 2013, the project is operated by LMS Energy Pty Ltd, Australia's most established landfill gas contractor. The facility sits within the Stuart industrial precinct, a zone dedicated to heavy industry and infrastructure, distinguishing it from the broader rural land uses in the region which include cattle grazing and dry tropical forestry.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative - Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology credits the destruction of methane, a potent greenhouse gas generated by the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in landfills. By installing a system of wells and pipes, the project vacuums gas from the waste mass and combusts it. This process converts methane into carbon dioxide and water, significantly reducing the global warming potential of the emissions. As a "transitioning project," it was originally established under the early Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) before moving to the current Emissions Reduction Fund framework, covering gas captured from both legacy (pre-2012 or post-2014) and non-legacy waste.

Environmentally, the Townsville region is defined by its "Dry Tropics" climate, characterized by a distinct wet summer season and a very dry winter. While the project operates on a highly engineered landfill site, the surrounding natural environment typically consists of coastal alluvial and clay soils supporting savanna woodland. The intense seasonal rainfall requires robust leachate and stormwater management at the landfill site to prevent groundwater contamination, a standard operational requirement for such facilities in this climate zone.

A notable feature of this project is its dual benefit of abatement and energy generation. Planning documents indicate the site houses a bio-energy facility where the captured gas is used to fuel generation modules, upgraded in recent years to a capacity of approximately 2.2 megawatts, feeding renewable electricity into the local grid. This allows the project to earn Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) in addition to Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).