Our Solution

Innovative capping and landfill gas capture

The existing landform is reengineered to create a slope (where appropriate) using coal ash to form a low permeability barrier. This caps the methane, preventing it from freely gassing out of the site into the atmosphere. The methane is then extracted in a managed way for energy conversion to produce electricity to feed into the grid.

Water and Leachate management

Rainfall is effectively prevented from entering the site by the capping process, diverting it to lagoons for crop irrigation or as part of a sustainable drainage system. This minimises water infiltration and leachate production. Any remaining leachate from the site is managed far more effectively by pumping it to foul sewers or to storage tanks. This in turn increases the capacity to use gases from the site productively.

Landfill gas to electricity and heat

The methane from landfill is an energy source that is burned in a gas engine to produce electricity and heat. The exhaust heat from this process is used to dry the green waste which is diverted from landfill to produce rich organic soil.

Creating a fertile soil

A composite mixture of biochar, sewage sludge 'cake' and coal ash is applied in proportions to mimic a free-draining silt-clayey soil. According to the specific site and local circumstances, this medium becomes a platform for agricultural, recreational and renewable energy production.

Renewable Energy

Lichen Renewal extracts value from historic landfill sites by generating renewable energy that also contributes to reducing the national dependence on fossil fuels. At certain sites in addition to electricity, heat can be can be used directly by the local communities. Renewable energy is generated by burning green waste (also called biomass) but in the absence of oxygen so that the process does not produce carbon dioxide. Instead the process locks the carbon in biochar which is turned into a rich organic soil.