Hawkesbury Landfill Gas Project

Hawkesbury Landfill Gas Project is a landfill gas project located at the Hawkesbury Waste Management Facility [1, 4], approximately 50km northwest of the Sydney CBD in New South Wales [1]. It was registered in August 2015 and covers an unknown project area size [1, 5].

Landfill gas projects involve capturing methane produced by decomposing organic waste and combusting it through a flare or power generator. This process converts methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, into carbon dioxide and water vapour, significantly reducing overall atmospheric emissions. This specific project upgrades an existing landfill gas collection system to safely capture and combust gas generated at the site from both legacy and non-legacy waste [1, 5].

The Hawkesbury region is situated along the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system [6]. The surrounding area is known for a mix of urban development, native conservation areas, and agricultural land uses such as turf farming, cropping, and grazing [6, 7, 8]. The region typically experiences moderate to high rainfall, and its soils are generally characterised as Chromosols, Tenosols, and nutrient-rich alluvial Dermosols along the floodplains [9, 10, 11, 12].

Interestingly, this project was initially registered with the Hawkesbury City Council as the project participant before being varied and transferred to Landfill Gas Industries Pty Ltd (now LGI Limited) in September 2015 [1, 13]. Operating at a small regional landfill where ACCUs are the sole revenue source for the system, the project has been highly successful [14]. It completed a Commonwealth Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC102423) in May 2021 by delivering 47,400 tonnes of carbon abatement [1, 5].