Australian abattoir to beef up its biogas proposition

An Australian abattoir is to construct a multi-million biogas system to help reduce its reliance on coal.

Bindaree Beef (BB), based in New South Wales, will see the AU$43 million (€30.4 million) system reduce its carbon emission by 95% while cutting utility cost of processing each head of cattle by over a third. The project involves installing a more energy efficient rendering plant and processing all organic waste through a digester.

‘The biogas system will be a win for the environment and it also makes the company more competitive,’ BB spokesperson Kerry Newton was quoted as saying. ‘This type of technology has been used in other industries before but this is the first time in the world that it has been used in the meat industry.’

The owners of BB have reportedly spent $2 million of their own money researching and developing the project. If successful, the company will no longer be liable to pay the carbon price, which is estimated to save it $2.4 million a year.