Poo Power Coming to Town

Byron Council is wanting to go out on a limb with two innovative and costly projects. One is the large solar farm in Dingo Lane, beside the Manse Road Recycling facility. The other is the BioEnergy Treatment Plant. This one is planned beside Byron Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) west of the Arts and Industry Estate. Both projects are part of the package to get the council to zero carbon emissions.

You can view and provide feedback on its Development Application. It is for the construction of a fully enclosed bioenergy facility at the Byron Bay Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). If constructed, it will be a first-of-its-kind facility in Australia.

It is expected to generate between 3 to 4 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy per year. This is approximately 50-70 per cent of the Council’s total annual electricity consumption. It would reduce Council’s carbon emissions by up to 20 per cent (equivalent to taking 1,030 cars/year off the road) and remove the Byron STP from grid electricity. Excess energy feeds back into the grid.

Council’s Senior Project Manager for the bioenergy facility project, John Hart, said the facility would use dry anaerobic digestion technology to process the Shire’s residential and commercial organic waste and convert it into renewable energy and a compost product. It no longer looks or smells like poo at all.

The construction of the facility is estimated to cost between $15-20 million and Council is currently applying for State and Federal grants. Mr Hart said Council would meet its contribution towards the project from loan borrowings with no planned increase to rates or Council charges to ratepayers.

“Over 20,000 tonne a year of the region’s organic waste is currently transported to Queensland, so this facility presents an opportunity for Byron Shire to take control of its own organic waste with a local solution,” Mr Hart said.