Oikos Earth Proposes Carbon Trading Partnership for Makassar Landfill
Makassar (ANTARA) - Renewable energy management company, Oikos Earth, is offering a partnership with the Makassar City Government, South Sulawesi, to manage the Antang Tamangapa Landfill (TPA) as a source of energy by converting methane into carbon trading opportunities.
This opportunity was presented by the CEO of Oikos Earth, Muh Syiraz, to the Makassar City Government during an audience with the Mayor of Makassar, Munafri Arifuddin, at the Mayor’s Official Residence on Thursday.
“We have visited the location (Antang TPA) directly. There are already activities underway to perform methane capture from the landfill,” he stated.
Syiraz revealed that methane gas from waste piles, which has the potential to escape into the atmosphere, can be managed through a carbon trading scheme.
He noted that the company is currently exploring the possibility of developing an emission reduction project based on methane gas management at the Tamangapa landfill.
According to him, the Tamangapa landfill holds great potential because the waste accumulation has been forming since the 1990s. The decomposition process of organic waste within these piles produces methane gas that needs to be captured and managed.
He explained that successfully captured methane can hold economic value if it meets the applicable technical requirements and emission reduction mechanisms.
Such emission reductions could subsequently be converted into environmental instruments in the form of carbon credits.
“Methane that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere, once captured, allows us to issue an environmental instrument known as a carbon credit. Therefore, this exploration aims to demonstrate that a landfill is not merely a cost, but can also become a source of revenue and local original income (PAD),” he said.
According to Syiraz, the utilisation of methane gas can simultaneously serve as part of a more sustainable landfill management effort. This is because methane is a greenhouse gas with a significant impact on global warming.
With an efficient capture system, the gas would not be released directly into the atmosphere but would instead be managed to reduce emissions and, in the subsequent stage, potentially utilised as an energy source.
As this landfill has been in operation since the 1990s, the potential for methane that has been escaping into the atmosphere is quite substantial.
“Through capture, we prevent these methane emissions. The key is how the City Government, through its departments and all relevant parties, can turn this into revenue,” he explained.
Beyond carbon trading, Oikos Earth also sees opportunities in using methane as an alternative fuel. Syiraz stated that the captured methane has the potential to be processed and purified into compressed biomethane, which can then be marketed to the industrial sector.