Stuart Landfill Gas Project

Stuart Landfill Gas Project is a landfill gas emissions avoidance project located at the Stuart Waste Facility, approximately 12 kilometres southeast of the Townsville CBD in Queensland. It was registered in August 2013 and operates within the industrial suburb of Stuart, serving as the primary waste management facility for the Townsville region.

Landfill gas projects involve installing a network of wells and pipes to capture methane generated by the decomposition of organic waste in an oxygen-poor environment. A standard requirement of this methodology is the combustion of this captured gas, either through flaring or electricity generation, which converts it into carbon dioxide and water, significantly reducing its overall global warming potential.

The Townsville region features a dry tropical savanna climate characterised by high-intensity summer rainfall (a wet monsoon season) and long, dry winters. Soils in the Stuart area's coastal plains are typically heavy clays and duplex soils that can be highly reactive and prone to waterlogging. Land use in the immediate vicinity is primarily heavy industrial and waste management, situated near the Mount Stuart Power Station and Sun Metals Zinc Refinery, while the broader regional land use includes cattle grazing and coastal environments.

This transitioning project captures gas from both legacy (deposited before the scheme's baseline dates) and non-legacy waste. Developed by LMS Energy in partnership with the Townsville City Council, the site is also known as the Stuart Bio-Energy Facility. While initially reliant solely on gas flaring, recent expansions and development applications have included the installation of generator modules to convert the captured methane into renewable electricity that feeds directly into the grid. Additionally, the project held a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC164941) which was successfully completed in October 2021.