Biogas Upgrading: A Review of National Biomethane Strategies and Support Policies in Selected Countries

Abstract

Bioenergy contributes significantly towards the share of renewable energies, in Europe and worldwide. Besides solid and liquid biofuels, gaseous biofuels, such as biogas or upgraded biogas (biomethane), are an established renewable fuel in Europe. Although many studies consider biomethane technologies, feedstock potentials, or sustainability issues, the literature on the required legislative framework for market introduction is limited. Therefore, this research aims at identifying the market and legislative framework conditions in the three leading biomethane markets in Europe and compare them to the framework conditions of the top six non-European biomethane markets. This study shows the global status and national differences in promoting this renewable energy carrier. For the cross-country comparison, a systematic and iterative literature review is conducted. The results show the top three European biomethane markets (Germany, United Kingdom, Sweden) and the six non-European biomethane markets (Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States of America), pursuing different promotion approaches and framework conditions. Noteworthy cross-national findings are the role of state-level incentives, the tendency to utilise biomethane as vehicular fuel and the focus on residues and waste as feedstock for biomethane production. Presenting a cross-country comparison, this study supports cross-country learning for the promotion of renewable energies like biomethane and gives a pertinent overview of the work.

Commercial Biogas Plants: Lessons for Ukraine

“…Advance bioethanol is an exception (Figure 9). The following countries are the top producers of biomethane: Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark [90,91]. The most powerful average biogas upgrading plants are in the USA and Germany (Figure 10).…”

Regulated Emissions of Biogas Engines—On Site Experimental Measurements and Damage Assessment on Human Health

“…Note that, several other works are available on DF-ICEs operating with biodiesel, simulated biogas, mixture of biogas and other fuels [68][69][70][71][72][73][74] or works that analyse the effect of biogas CO 2 ratio on the vibration and performance of a SI-ICE [75], the role of global fuel-air equivalence ratio and preheating on the behaviour of a biogas driven DF Diesel engine [76], the utilization of biogas and syngas produced from biomass waste in premixed SI engine [77], the influence on performance and exhaust gas emissions of n-heptane in biogas composition [78], efficiency and pollutant emissions of a SI-ICE using biogas-hydrogen fuel blends [79], accidents in biogas facilities [80], biogas upgrade to bio-methane [81], effects of CO 2 -costs on biogas usage [82], and so forth.…”

A consolidated potential analysis of bio-methane and e-methane using two different methods for a medium-term renewable gas supply in Germany

“…Taken together, supplying renewable methane could be one of the business models for "Post-FIT" biogas capacities. As it was shown here and mentioned elsewhere, a significant share of these capacities will have to be decommissioned in the 2020s if no business model is found for them [20,39].…”

“…Last but not least, a number of additional regulations are required to make the conversion of BP capacities as a business model work. These include an economic level playing field, certification on meeting technical requirements of bio-CH 4 as products [39].…”