Proponents of a new clean energy project at Tailem Bend say farmers could have a big role to play in their vision of a circular economy offering.
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Greenhill Energy is expecting to turn soil on stage one of the $425 million Riverbend Energy Hub next year, with the facility to convert landfill and other biomass into outputs like urea, hydrogen and Adblue - a diesel exhaust fluid used in modern trucks.
The project aims to process up to 120,000 tonnes of feedstock material a year, with an ambitious goal of eliminating the vast majority of SA's household landfill waste by 2030.
While fundraising tranches will be undertaken by the company, it has already partnered with Elders, Solo Resource Recovery and Peats Soil and Garden Supplies to make the project a reality.
Greenhill Energy managing director Nicholas Mumford, who hails from farming bloodlines, said farmers were already approaching him interested in the urea.
"As we scale up the project further the plan is to work with local farmers to look at opportunities for their biomass waste in the first instance," he said.
"Longer term we'll look at cropping opportunities that complement but don't cut across existing cropping patterns.
"It might be where they put a paddock fallow or a seasonal crop like fast growing hemp, or an arid longer term crop like agave.
"They can potentially supply sustainable biomass and then buy the locally produced fertilizer at the other end. It's the truest form of the circular economy model."
The establishment of integrated gasification combined cycle technology and materials delivery to the site will be the focus of stage one, with syngas processing and urea manufacturing to begin in stage two, while hydrogen supply will start in stage three.
The project is expected to provide 300 jobs during the construction phase, and up to 100 ongoing roles once operating.
The company is looking to replicate the Riverbend Energy Hub plans at other sites across the country and overseas in years to come.
All of Australia's granular urea is currently imported, so Mr Mumford believes there is great opportunity in proving a consistent and reliable supply of the fertiliser from a local source.
"We're focused on producing hydrogen which then goes into a manufacturing process, and in this instance the primary product will be urea for fertiliser," he said.
"There will also be other opportunities like the extension of urea into Adblue.
"Down the track, because there's hydrogen available for the manufacturing process you can then use hydrogen for refueling of trucks."
