Queensland is now home to the Southern Hemisphere’s first human-waste-to-energy plant. 

Australia's first biosolids gasification plant located at Logan, south of Brisbane, has opened this week. 

After 18 months of construction, the $28-million facility (including $6 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency) is now in operation, removing water from sewage sludge before drying it out and burning it in a furnace. The gases produced can power the facility, leaving a substance called biochar, which can be used as a high-grade fertiliser in and in building materials.

The gasification process destroys certain chemicals in biosolids such as microplastics.

The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by about 6,000 tonnes a year and save the Logan City Council up to $1 million a year.

The council has been working with scientists at Queensland University of Technology to find new uses for the products of the process.