Clean, green pork for future generations

Clean, green pork for future generations is an animal effluent management project located in the Riverland region of South Australia, approximately 25km southeast of Morgan and 30km west of Waikerie. Registered in December 2022 by McMahon Family Enterprises Pty Ltd (trading as McPiggery), the project operates within the Murraylands district, a region characterized by mixed farming, grazing, and viticulture.

The project operates under the Animal Effluent Management methodology. This involves the installation of a new facility designed to capture and destroy methane emissions generated from animal manure. In standard practice, this requires covering anaerobic ponds (lagoons) or using engineered digesters to trap methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas produced during the decomposition of organic matter. The captured gas is then combusted (flared) or used to generate renewable electricity, converting the methane into carbon dioxide and significantly reducing the global warming potential of the facility's emissions.

The surrounding environment in this part of the Murray Mallee is semi-arid, typically receiving low annual rainfall between 250mm and 300mm. The landscape generally features sandy loam and calcareous soils which support Mallee scrub vegetation where land has not been cleared for agriculture.

McMahon Family Enterprises, a family-owned South Australian business, appears to be leveraging this project to lower the carbon footprint of their pork production. The project title suggests a strategic focus on sustainability, likely aimed at producing "carbon-neutral" or environmentally certified pork products for the consumer market. By destroying methane that would otherwise vent into the atmosphere, the project generates Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) while improving the environmental credentials of the intensive animal agriculture operation.