Christchurch City Council finalist in the EECA Energywise Award

30 October 2007

Converting rubbish into a resource

A Christchurch City Council’s project to heat QE11 Leisure Centre using landfill gas is a finalist in both the Renewable Energy and Public Sector categories of the EECA Energywise Awards 2007.

The project collects methane gas created at the closed Burwood Landfill and transports it by an underground pipeline to QEII  where it now provides heating and electricity for the swimming pool complex. The Council’s Energy Manager, Leonid Itskovich says the pipeline is an example of the Council’s strong commitment to sustainable energy efficiency. “The pipeline will save the Council about $1 million in LPG and electricity costs a year. The project uses gas that would have otherwise escaped into the atmosphere. When methane is burnt, it is converted to carbon dioxide which reduces its climate impact by a factor of 21, he says. “By capturing the methane gas this way, the project reduces carbon emission equivalent to that produced from 11,000 cars each year and would generate enough electricity to power 200 average households”.

In December 2004, the New Zealand Government awarded the Council 200,000 carbon credits (or Emission Reduction Units (ERU)) for the capture and transport of methane gas - one of the worst greenhouse gases. Last September, Council approved the sale of its carbon credits to a single, overseas, private sector buyer. The sale, New Zealand’s first overseas carbon credit sale, will generate about $3 million in revenue, for the Council over five years. This income, combine with cost savings, achieves a four-year payback for the $4.2 million capital project. This project supports the council’s Sustainable Energy Strategy for Christchurch

2008 – 2018, the first comprehensive plan to be adopted by a local body authority in New Zealand. Energywise Awards winners will be announced at a function held at the Lagham Hotel, Auckland, Thursday November 1.

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