New South Wales greenlights $53M bioenergy facility to power brick manufacturing

In Australia, the Minns Labor Government has greenlit a new A$81.4 million bioenergy facility in Horsley Park that will power one of the country’s largest brick manufacturing plants. Austral Bricks have been manufacturing in Horsley Park since the 1960’s and this approval will allow the facilities to transition their operations from fossil fuels to renewable biogas.

The facility will divert up to 150,000 metric tons of organic waste from landfill each year, converting the waste into renewable green gas using anaerobic digestion technology. The plant will place organic waste into a sealed tank, allowing bacteria to break it down and release biogas. This green gas will generate electricity and heat to power the bioenergy facility and be piped to the brick manufacturing kiln to replace the natural gas currently being used as a fuel. The A$81.4 million development is expected to support more than 250 jobs during construction. Once complete, the development will process solid and liquid organic waste collected from commercial, industrial, agricultural and residential areas.