By Matthew Falzon, General Manager, Lms Energy
When you think about renewable energy, solar panels and wind turbines probably spring to mind. But what if we told you that your waste is being converted it into a long-term renewable energy source? LMS Energy is doing this across 55 Australian landfill sites, not only reducing costs for councils and ratepayers but contributing towards a greener energy future for you and your family. It may not be as glamorous as solar and wind but it’s a double win – not only producing clean, affordable electricity, but also preventing greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere.
LMS Energy (LMS) is Australia’s leading methane destruction and bioenergy company. Our business is capturing the methane landfills produce and converting it into clean, reliable renewable energy – or destroying it using flares. In doing so, we are reducing the environmental impact of some of Australia’s largest landfills. Methane is produced by the decomposition of organic matter, like food and garden waste. It’s a potent greenhouse gas – around 28 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Methane destruction is an important climate strategy to reduce the impact of the 27 million tonnes of waste Australians send to landfill each year.
Each year, LMS Energy abates greenhouse gases equivalent to five million tonnes of carbon. We are the largest carbon abatement company under Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund. Additionally, our sites collectively generate 600,000 megawatt hours of baseload renewable energy each year – enough to power 100,000 homes.
LMS supports measures to increase recycling and reduce waste and we are actively developing organics recycling projects. Landfills are a 20th-century solution for a 21st century problem. We can do better. The ultimate goal is to avoid waste going to landfill all together, especially organic wastes. We would rather be diverting these organics to create zero emission biofuels and compost. We are already investing heavily in new technologies towards this goal: anaerobic digestion, organics recycling, renewable gas and solar panels on landfill.
LMS Energy’s projects are changing the face of the waste management landscape – protecting the environment and supplying clean, reliable energy. For councils, LMS projects are a win-win. LMS is Australian owned and operated and committed to local manufacturing. Our projects reduce costs, boost regional development and jobs and improve the planet for generations to come.
Our portfolio of projects is powering a low carbon, circular economy. We need the support of governments, business partners and the community to further support our circular economy solutions. Until then waste will continue to pour into landfills, and its vital that the potent greenhouse gases that they produce are captured and destroyed.
