Page 18 - European Energy Innovation magazine - autumn 2022 edition

Autumn 2022 European Energy Innovation
18 BIOGAS AND BIOMETHANE

The road ahead facilities to use these 5. Increase facility sizes: Most
Expanding biomethane production to feedstocks. Standards should biomethane units in the EU
35 bcm will require a 12-fold increase be put in place that avoids have a capacity to produce
in biomethane production across negative impacts on soil and around 50-250 m /h. Plant sizes
3
EU in less than 8 years. To meet this nutrient cycles, farm will likely need to increase,
ambitious timeline, policymakers management practices, potentially requiring the pooling
should focus their efforts on the biodiversity, or animal husbandry. of multiple feedstock sources
following key areas: 3. Facilitate investment: Meeting and development of centralised
1. Close the competitiveness the 35 bcm target will require upgrading facilities, in order to
gap. Notwithstanding current EUR 70 billion of new investment, achieve economies of scale and
record high prices for natural gas, according to the RePowerEU reduce integration costs.
further incentives are needed plan. Reducing the risk of biogas 6. Prepare gas networks for
that give biomethane a value and biomethane investment by biomethane injection: Natural
linked to its GHG performance, extending public fi nancing or gas network operators will need
alongside multiple co-benefi ts loan guarantees, or by securing to accomodate higher rates of
(rural development, dispatchable long-term offtake agreements biomethane injection, that comes
generation, avoided methane with creditworthy buyers, can with different supply profi les
emissions, value of digestate as help fi nance larger projects and and quality specifi cations, while
biofertiliser, etc). therefore attract larger private maintaining reliable supplies.
2. Improve feedstock management sources of capital. 7. Create a harmonised trading
The majority of the EU biogas 4. Measure, report and verify network: Trade can help expand
production comes from landfi lls, emisssions There remains the pace and scale of biomethane
wastewater treatment, energy considerable uncertainty around growth by connecting production
crops and some agricultural the lifecycle emissions of biogas and demand centres. This requires
wastes like manure. Biogas and biomethane plants. Operators consistent biomethane standards,
producers will need to scale should be obliged to measure and trading platforms for physical and
supply chains for these wastes report their emissions at each greenhouse attribute trading and
and construct many effi cient stage of the production process. shared sustainability certifi cation. ●

Biogas and biomethane production pathways

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