Clean Energy Future

Voiceover: The Carbon Farming Initiative is an opportunity for a range of land based sectors including landfill operators to be part of the Australian Governments clean energy future.  The voluntary Carbon Offset Scheme offers economic rewards for a range of measures which either reduce carbon emissions or store carbon.  Carbon abatement measures at landfills can be so effective that they can bring total emissions below the carbon price threshold.

Sacha Piotrkowski: My name is Sasha Piotrkowski I’ve the Environmental Education officer for Tweed Shire Council.  This is Tweed Shire Councils main landfill and we also have a smaller transfer station over at Talgan and all of that waste comes over here from builders waste to household recyclables such as your common CFLs and fluoro lights, e-waste, larger batteries and gas bottles.  All of that is recovered before it goes to landfill.  We’re becoming quite a disposable society, because of that we need to manage our waste more effectively.  We have pipe work that captures the methane that is generated from waste breaking down, all of your food waste and your green organic waste which is actually worse than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.  That gas is then pumped up to our gas facility and it generates about enough to power 400 homes every year so that power’s pumped back into the grid and it’s a form of green power.  We have a water education officer, a waste education officer and also a few biodiversity type education staff.  They all take part in this environmental education program, community groups and adult groups do tours of the landfill and also of our recycling facility so that they can learn what’s actually happening with their waste and recyclables once it leaves their home.

Wes Knight: I think waste is something that we’ve always got to manage and it’s something that we need to look at managing as best we can.  As a direct result of the methane capture system and the methane generator we’ve reduced our emissions to below the threshold.  I want a place for my kids to grow up in a cleaner environment and for future generations.

Sacha Piotrkowski: I think it’s up to all of us to try and invest in a cleaner energy future and reduce the impact that we have on the earth because we probably as humans are the biggest impact on earth.

Voiceover: To find out more about the Carbon Farming Initiative and the many ways in which you could become involved visit www.cleanenergyfuture.gov.au