Lucas Heights 2B Landfill Gas Project

Lucas Heights 2B Landfill Gas Project is a landfill gas electricity generation project located at Lucas Heights, approximately 30km south-west of the Sydney CBD in New South Wales. It was registered in August 2013. While the exact project area is undefined on the register, it operates within the footprint of the Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park.

Landfill gas electricity generation projects involve installing a network of extraction wells to capture methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas produced by decomposing organic matter in a landfill. Instead of being released into the atmosphere, this captured gas is combusted in an internal combustion engine to generate electricity. The standard requirements for this methodology dictate that the project must accurately measure the methane concentration sent to the combustion device and calculate abatement based on the electricity produced, effectively neutralizing the methane while offsetting grid electricity emissions.

The Lucas Heights region is characterized by heavy waste management infrastructure, scientific research facilities (such as the nearby ANSTO campus), and surrounding native bushland conservation areas. The region experiences moderate to high coastal rainfall, averaging roughly 1,000mm annually. The local soils belong to the Lucas Heights residual soil landscape, which predominantly features moderately deep, hard-setting yellow podzolic and clay soils formed over the Mittagong Formation and Hawkesbury Sandstone.

This project is notable for its longevity and continuous methodological evolution. It initially operated under a revoked 2012 legacy waste method before transitioning to the 2015 Landfill Gas methodology. In February 2022, it varied its method again to the current Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative - Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2021. It continues to actively capture and combust gas generated from both legacy and non-legacy waste streams. The project's proponent, EDL LFG (NSW) Pty Ltd, originally secured a carbon abatement contract (CAC403360) in April 2015, which successfully reached completion in September 2022.