One man's rubbish is another man's electricity.
Neville Auton, who as Dunedin City Council energy manager, was behind the successful initiative to capture methane from Green Island landfill and convert it to electricity, is pushing the idea in Samoa.
Now an energy consultant for Otago Polytechnic, he has just returned from the United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States, held in Apia, where he spoke about the idea.
In order to progress repeating the Green Island initiative in Apia the polytechnic had signed a memorandum of understanding with the National University of Samoa and Mr Auton was confident the idea could work in Apia.
Renewable energy was a major focus at the UN Conference, as island states grappled with their reliance on diesel-generated power.
Samoa - which relies on diesel for 60% of its energy - was keen on the idea.
''In the past, there has been rhetoric, but this time they were really looking for action,'' Mr Auton said.
Assessing the viability of the project would likely be a two-year project.
''We will be looking at research projects with the university over there to get accurate data to make decisions on.''
That would include quantifying the different types of rubbish which came into the Apia landfill.
