Durban has launched Africa’s first landfill gas to electricity project at the Marianhill Landfill site. The project that converts landfill gas to electricity, will produce enough electricity for thousands of homes and inject tens of millions of rands into city coffers through the sale of electricity and certified emission reduction credits, more commonly known as carbon credits. Millions of cubic metres of greenhouse gasses that would otherwise have escaped into the atmosphere each year, contributing to global warming, will now be converted into clean electricity, ensuring that the environment is a major benefactor as well.

The project is currently operating at the Mariannhill and La Mercy landfills and will be extended to the larger Bisasar Road landfill by the end of the year.

Speaking at the launch ceremony at the Mariannhill Landfill, eThekwini Mayor Obed Mlaba said the eThekwini was committed to being environmentally responsible in all its infrastructure development efforts. Mlaba predicted that the pioneering Durban initiative would encourage other cities in South Africa and the rest of Africa to follow suit.

“We are proud of what has been achieved thus far with the infrastructure development in Durban, but we believe that we can do much, much more.” “Through collaboration with the World Bank and its Prototype Carbon Fund we can share our experience and hard-earned expertise with other municipalities in South Africa, and even with municipalities in other countries through the NEPAD initiative,” Mlaba said.

City Manager Michael Sutcliffe said the project was important as part of eThekwini’s overall strategic vision to be more sustainable and to tackle climate change. “Part of this is about taking advantage of aspects of the Kyoto Protocol which allow for carbon trading. Without this, projects like ours would not be financially viable.

The French Development Bank has provided a long-term loan of R58.74 million, with R17.7 million in donor funds coming from the Department of Trade and Industry. The World Bank’s Prototype Carbon Fund will initially be the main purchaser of carbon credits.

The World Bank’s Noreen Beg congratulated eThekwini on taking the lead. “The World Bank is keen to promote successful solid waste management practices, and in this case the benefits are multiple - clean energy, and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions are also a result of the project.

Project manager Lindsay Strachan said that while initial profits from the project would be fairly modest, they would soon be a significant source of revenue for the city. He said the project’s total income revenue for Mariannhill and La Mercy landfills would be some R33.9 million from the sale of carbon credits (R20.7 million) and the sale of electricity (R13.2 million).

When the Bisasar Road Landfill, comes on line at the end of 2007, the expected financials start to look far better for eThekwini with the profit to council being estimated at R 406.4 million.”

Besides monetary gains to the city, Strachan stresses the environmental benefits of the project. “Africa stands to be severely affected by climate change. This project alone will reduce the burning of coal by some 80 000 tons per year (a large truck load per hour).

South Africa, albeit classified a developing country by Kyoto, is the fourteenth highest polluter of green house gas emissions in the world - certainly a developed polluter owed to her current reliance on coal fired energy. The Kyoto’s clean development mechanisms (CDM) allows South Africans to take climate combating action profitably.”