Biogas: the smell of a sustainable future?

What is holding biogas back? That’s the question we put to Thomas Amon from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna, project coordinator of EU Agrobiogas.

EU Agrobiogas
European Commission-funded project EU Agrobiogas began in 2007. Its headquarters are in Austria, but it has partners in nine European countries including the Netherlands, UK, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. Its objective is to demonstrate the potential of biogas by researching the most up-to-date production technologies and putting them into practice across Europe.

Each member of the consortium is responsible for a specific biogas-related project. The UK research partner, for instance, is working on an early warning system to optimise the biogas fermenting system.

At the end of the three year project, Thomas hopes there will be enough positive findings and practical demonstrations to propel biogas into the mainstream. There is, he says, already real progress being made in Germany and Austria, which are close to building working biogas plants, developing the technology from demonstration to practical application.

All angles
“We’re working to demonstrate best practice for biogas plants, to show how efficient they can be and seek out the most cutting-edge technologies,” explains Thomas. “We’re approaching this from all angles – from the technical side, the economic side, and of course from the perspective of sustainability. The more working examples we can show, the better,” he says.

Potent
Biogas production depends on the anaerobic breakdown of organic matter – which includes animal manure and by-products from the farming and slaughter industries that would otherwise end up in incinerators, or worse, landfill sites. The methane released by these waste products, if left unchecked, is twenty times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Using anaerobic digestion – introducing micro-organisms to the waste in an oxygen-less fermenter – not only produces a clean gas that can be used as a fossil fuel substitute, but produces a nutrient-rich by-product that can be used as a fertiliser. And because biogas uses waste products, it sidesteps the food versus fuel debate which has blighted the progress of other biofuels. Even better, the technology and infrastructure necessary to get biogas into widespread use as a vehicle fuel is already proven.

Political reasons
It sounds like the perfect solution to various problems related to other kinds of fuel. So what is holding it back? According to Thomas, there are two major barriers. The first: reluctance from energy companies to support biogas. The second: its price.

“There are political reasons why biogas is not bigger. The energy suppliers and oil companies, for example, have their own agendas when it comes to renewables,” he says. “Then there’s the price, because although the waste products used to create the biogas are not expensive, the other materials needed to generate the anaerobic reaction are. But we’re working on bringing this price down,” he says

Major alternative
Despite these setbacks, Thomas is optimistic of a rosy future for biogas – especially when it comes to transport.

“Cars with gas engines are already available, we can show that this is possible on both a technical and economic level,” he says. “It’s perfectly feasible that biogas could supply two thirds of Europe’s demand for vehicle fuels. And I am confident that, despite the barriers, we will see biogas become a major fuel alternative in years to come.”