The finalisation of new rules framing the abatement of methane gas from landfills has been welcomed by Australia’s leading methane abatement business.
LMS Energy Co-Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Falzon, welcomed the completion of a new landfill gas method, nearly three years after the Chubb Review handed down its recommendations to ensure the integrity of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme.
The revised method for incentivising abatement of methane from landfills will increase baselines – the amount of gas that is eliminated without earning ACCUs – by nearly 70 per cent.
Mr Falzon said this increase was not justified by the evidence and would materially reduce the incentive to recover methane, risking increased greenhouse emissions from landfills.
“The world is at a crossroads where we must increase our efforts to cut emissions, not reduce it. The Albanese Government has repeatedly shown they are serious about reducing Australia’s emissions. This new method is not ideal, but it does provide policy certainty that the landfill gas industry desperately needs so we can start investing again to stop landfill methane from harming our atmosphere,” he said.
“We supported the Chubb Review and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) reform process to ensure the integrity of abatement from these facilities. The final method means ACCUs created from abating methane at landfills are of the highest integrity. The abatement is real, measured and verified.”
“We may not fully agree with where they have landed, but it’s time to get on with reducing Australia’s emissions with the new rules in place.”
LMS Energy exists to protect the environment and operates more than 60 methane abatement projects across Australia which abate nationally significant amounts of methane (the equivalent of more than 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year).
ENDS