JBS Beef City Biogas to Boiler Fuel Substitution

JBS Beef City Biogas to Boiler Fuel Substitution is an industrial and commercial emissions reduction project located at Purrawunda, approximately 35km west of Toowoomba in Queensland. It was registered in January 2022 and takes place across the specific footprint of the JBS Beef City processing and feedlot facility.

Industrial and Commercial Emissions Reduction projects involve reducing energy emissions by upgrading, removing, or modifying emissions-producing equipment, or by changing the energy sources used by the existing systems. The specific project activities at this site include boiler upgrades, control system changes, insulation, fuel switching, and waste heat capture and re-use.

The Purrawunda and wider Darling Downs region is well known for its intensive agriculture, particularly large-scale cattle feedlots, grazing, and broadacre cropping. The environment generally experiences moderate, summer-dominant rainfall and is famously characterised by its rich, dark cracking clay soils.

This project was established to significantly reduce the meat processing plant's reliance on natural gas by capturing methane from its wastewater. In partnership with AGL, the facility directs wastewater into covered anaerobic lagoons where naturally occurring biogas is captured and then pumped to a boiler to produce hot water. The system successfully generates approximately 64 terajoules of renewable biogas annually. This initiative not only saves JBS an estimated $1.2 million in gas expenses per year but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by around 34,750 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, supporting the company's broader ambition to reach Net Zero by 2040.