Workshop on “Biomethane Trade”

The workshop “Biomethane Trade” took place on the 24th of January 2012 as part of the conference “Fuels of the future” at the International Conference Center (ICC) in Berlin, Germany. It was jointly organized by IEA Bioenergy Task 40, the funding program of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety “Biomass Energy Use” and the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (FNR), and the German Bioenergy Assosiation (BBE).

Biomethane, having the advantage to be able to make use of the already existing natural gas grid for distribution, is expected to play a significant role in the biofuel sector in the future. Important stakeholders and experts from industry as well as from academia gathered at this workshop to present and discuss the latest developments in this rapidly growing market.

Generally, there are two pathways for biomethane production: biochemical and thermochemical conversion. Over the years, the plant number and production capacity of biochemical production of biomethane has increased, and is expected to grow in the future as well. Most of the biomethane plants are located in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands. On the other hand, there is also a great effort to develop thermochemical conversion of biomass to bio-SNG (synthetic natural gas), considering its large potential. Currently no operating plants produce bio-SNG via thermochemical conversion (a 1 MWSNG demonstration plant has been built in Güssing, Austria).

The European market for biomethane is growing rapidly, and so the trade of biomethane across borders is getting more important. The recently published study “Focus on – Biomethane” gives an overview of the latest developments and selected country profiles. (Download here: http://www.energetische-biomassenutzung.de/de/downloads/veroeffentlichungen.html) At this workshop, various possibilities for better use of biomethane and knowledge exchange between different countries were presented and discussed. Furthermore, biogas certification is expected to simplify the trade while at the same time addressing the sustainability issue (including the origin). Another scenario of international cooperation could be the implementation of a heavy duty dual-fuel truck corridor from north to south which involves different countries along the route. The experts agreed that instruments should be developed to secure the fair evaluation and trade of biomethane in Europe.

The following topics were presented, the presentations are available here [10,584 KB] :
* Biomethane in Europe – Status Quo & Perspectives
* Biomethane from Biogas - Case study Sweden
* Methane production from woody biomass
* Corridor of liquefied biomethane for road transports
* National expectations and promotion plans for biomethane
* Biomethan for long distance transport - Results of the EU-project "scandria biogas corridor"
* Research and demonstration for biomethane from Eastern Europe & quality demands for sustainable biomethane
* Indirect land use change of biomethane use
* International supply options for delivering SNG to the EU markets

Download the presentations [10,584 KB] , full program [1,828 KB] , and full press release [101 KB]