Bantar Gebang expected to earn carbon credits

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The city administration hopes to benefit from a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project at its Bantar Gebang sanitary landfill in Bekasi.

The newly built waste management facility is expected to produce 26 megawatts of electricity and earn carbon credits that can be sold to developed nations or private companies, sanitation agency head Eko Bharuna said Thursday.

“There will be a more sophisticated composting system on the 20-hectare facility,” he said. “We will build gas pipes on the landfill to trap methane gas released from the dump. This project will harvest methane gas from solid waste in the landfill. We hope it will produce 26 megawatts of electricity which can increase the state-owned electricity company PLN’s network in Java and Bali,” he said.

Eko said the administration had registered the Bantar Gebang project with the United Nations Framework Convention on Cli-mate Change (UNFCCC), which would routinely check and audit the facility.

“The investment of the project is about Rp 700 billion *US$61 million*. We expect the project will be completed in two years,” said Eko, adding it was funded through commercial investors.

PT Gondang Tua Jaya, PT Navigat Organic Energy Indonesia, Sindicatum Carbon Capital and Organic International Ltd will jointly run the facility for the next 15 years.

CDM is a scheme, regulated through the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions.

Countries can develop projects that curb their climate changing emissions and later sell the equivalent of the reduced emissions as carbon credits to more developed nations or private companies.

Buyers then use the credits as offsets for their own carbon emissions.

Waty Suhadi from the Swisscontact Indonesia Foundation said the Bantar Gebang project was economically viable for the administration.

“The CDM project has many benefits. First, the administration can have more power for electricity,” said Waty.

“And the great thing is it can also earn money through selling carbon credits, for instance, with carbon credits trading for $10 per ton,” she said.

The most important thing, she claimed , were steps being taken by the administration to reduce the city’s garbage.

Besides Bantar Gebang, the city administration intends to build similar facilities in Ciangir, Tangerang.

“Currently, most of Jakarta’s garbage ends up at the Bantar Gebang garbage dump. Ciangir will be an alternative garbage site, especially for areas in western Jakarta,” said Eko.

The sanitation agency recorded that the city’s population of 10 million produces around 6,000 tons of garbage every day, around 60 percent of which is household waste.