Dubai: What was a stinking dumpsite some years ago is now an environmental-friendly landfill that produces power and money for Dubai!
Dubai Municipality’s Al Ghusais landfill has become the first such facility in the region to trade the carbon credits it earned after generating electricity by flaring the methane gas produced by waste combustion.
Last week, the facility, run by Green Energy Solutions and Sustainability LLC for the Waste Management Department of the civic body, received a cheque worth Dh354,240 for selling the carbon points.
It is the only green landfill in the region that is currently generating power from waste. The public-private partnership project is a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) initiative that is registered with the United Nations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
CDM initiatives can acquire carbon credits proportional to the reduction in greenhouse gas emission under the Kyoto Protocol.
Anita Nouri, partner and business development director of Green Energy Solutions and Sustainability, told Gulf News that the project was registered with the UNFCCC as the largest landfill gas recovery project of the Middle East and has successfully completed verification of greenhouse gas reduction of over 160,000 TCo2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) for the period June to December 2015. The Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Energy bought a total of 160,735 units to offset its carbon footprint.
“The carbon credits were purchased by the Norwegian government and the first trench of proceeds was presented to the Dubai Municipality on December 12,” she said.
Hussain Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality, received the cheque from the representatives of her firm and First Climate, the greenhouse gas consultant of the project. As per the agreement, 30 per cent of the deal will go to the municipality.
“The sale of the carbon credits to Norway is an achievement that we are all proud of,” Lootah said in a statement.
Nouri noted that the carbon revenue earned from this project is the highest monetary value of its kind in the region and will spur future waste to energy projects regionally as well as support the vision of Dubai Plan 2020.
“The project has multiple co-benefits. Besides contributing to the sustainable development of the region, it also helps in raising the standard of living for the people working on and around the landfill site,” she added.
