The true worth of waste: Why organic matters when it comes to biomethane production

In today’s dynamic global energy landscape, where geopolitical conflicts and supply-demand imbalances have exposed vulnerabilities, industry – and society – needs new energy solutions.?

Solutions that are not only viable and available, but sustainable and cost-effective too. Solutions that make use of abundant, locally available resources and which, ideally, remove waste from the production cycle and add value to the energy system.??

Biomethane is one solution that ticks all of these boxes. It can unlock the latent energy in existing waste from the farming industry, which is critical to the food and beverage sector, and can be found in most countries globally.??

But just how far can this potential impact stretch???

How is biomethane produced??

Biomethane can be produced from organic materials; common feedstocks include solid and liquid manure, agricultural waste and residues, industrial food and beverage waste, and organic household waste. The choice of feedstock depends on availability and local conditions.?

These feedstocks undergo a process called anaerobic digestion, a biological process that occurs in the absence of oxygen. The production of biomethane takes place in an anaerobic digester, a sealed container where organic materials are broken down by microorganisms (anaerobic bacteria and archaea) into biogas, which primarily consists of methane (CH?) and carbon dioxide (CO?), along with a small percentage of trace gases.??

Biomethane results from the purification, or upgrading, of biogas. When carbon dioxide and trace gases in biogas are removed, a methane-rich, natural gas substitute, is left - in the form of biomethane.?

Biomethane, also commonly called renewable natural gas (RNG), has almost identical characteristics to, and is thus directly interchangeable with, conventional fossil-based natural gas. This means that biomethane can be injected directly into the natural gas grid, allowing it to be distributed in existing infrastructure and used like conventional gas - for heating and cooking, as a vehicle fuel or for combined heat and power (CHP) generation.?

In February 2023, 壳牌 completed the acquisition of Nature Energy , the largest producer of renewable natural gas in Europe. Nature Energy owns and operates 13 biogas plants in Denmark and one plant in the Netherlands. During my site visits in Denmark, I was particularly impressed by the scale of the plants, the pride of everyone who works there, and the strong partnership with the local communities. The facilities are among the most modern in the world, with careful design to keep odour and noise nuisances to the surrounding communities to a minimum.?

The sustainability qualities of biomethane?

While biomethane does release greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions upon combustion, it can emit significantly fewer GHG emissions – and exhibit a lower carbon intensity [1] – across its entire production-and-use lifecycle than its fossil fuel counterpart.??

This is because fossil fuels are made from carbon that has been geologically sequestered for millions of years. In contrast, biofuels, such as biomethane, use carbon that was only recently removed from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis – ultimately forming part of a short-term cyclical carbon cycle.?

However, here the GHG reduction benefits are amplified by the processing and use of methane (a potent GHG) that would otherwise be released to the atmosphere from the natural decomposition of organic by-products and waste. For instance, manure and agricultural waste left in a field to decompose, or disposed of in a landfill, naturally release GHG emissions to the atmosphere.?

But biomethane’s sustainability qualities go beyond emissions, since digestate (a by-product of biogas production) can act as a degassed organic fertiliser that can be returned to farmers who have initially provided feedstocks – helping to close the loop on the circular process. Nature Energy partner with over 600 farmers in Denmark and the Netherlands, off-taking manure and agricultural residues, and thereby help farmers to sustainably dispose of their wastes in return for valuable fertiliser. You can read more about the environmental and socioeconomic sustainability benefits of biomethane and other biofuels in my previous article.??

Another by-product, CO2, can be captured during the biomethane production process and used by other sectors, such as the food and beverage industry to make carbonated drinks.?In fact, Nature Energy is doing just that at one of their plants in Denmark.?We are also investigating other options to use the CO?, including as a feedstock source for Power-to-X (PtX) plants – conversion technologies that convert green electricity into carbon-neutral synthetic fuels, such as hydrogen, synthetic natural gas, sustainable aviation fuel or chemicals.?

Hence, not only can biomethane play an important part in waste management through the feedstocks it uses, but the by-products from the production process can also be reused, improving overall resource efficiency.

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Biomethane’s role in the energy transition??

Biomethane offers solutions to a broad spectrum of industries and end users.??

It can provide the same system benefits as conventional natural gas; storage, flexibility, high-temperature heat, all with lower net carbon emissions. Added directly to existing natural gas grids, biomethane can be used in transmission and distribution infrastructure, diluting the use of fossil gas or coal over time. In addition to grid scale benefits, biomethane can provide a sustainable supply of heat and power to serve communities seeking local, decentralised sources of energy, as well as a valuable cooking fuel for developing countries.?

It can be used as a transport fuel in the form of either bio-LNG (bio liquefied natural gas) or R-CNG (renewable compressed natural gas). Today, bio-LNG is one of the most developed options to decarbonise heavy-duty road transport and can also be used in the marine and shipping sector, without businesses requiring expensive or time-consuming modifications to their natural gas-fuelled vehicles.??

In February 2022, Shell became the first fuel provider to offer all customers in the Netherlands a blended product, by feeding a portion of Shell BioLNG into its entire LNG network, allowing us to offer customers approximately 30% less CO? emissions compared to conventional B7 diesel [2]*. We are now working with customers and vehicle manufacturers to get trucks running on a 100% Shell BioLNG.?

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Why the right policy environment is key?

Environmental and performance benefits aside, there is still a huge amount of work to be done to scale the supply and adoption of biomethane, so that it can represent significantly more than today’s figure of 0.1% of natural gas demand [3].?

However, the potential for growth is there. In fact, the IEA state that the availability of sustainable feedstocks for biogas and/or biomethane production is set to grow by 40% over the period to 2040 [3]. Though, that won’t happen without putting conducive policy positions and financial instruments in place to boost production and support cross-border trade.?

Which is why countries across Europe – Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK – have introduced supportive measures for biomethane in the transport sector. Indeed, the European Commission itself has stated that: “biomethane can play an important role in achieving the REPowerEU Plan’s objectives of diversified gas supplies” – an issue that has become increasingly significant due to the energy security issues raised by the war in Ukraine [4].??

Meanwhile, the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has also been extended to include biogas systems as one of the qualified technologies eligible for tax credits. As a result, those companies installing anaerobic digestion systems are able to significantly offset investment costs through the IRA.??

Though it is good to see advances in this area, a few notable barriers still exist, such as:??

• Permitting – Though this can be less of an issue in some markets, it can take anywhere between 2-7 years to get a permit for one plant in Europe, which can limit progress from happening at the pace needed to meet upcoming net-zero targets [5].?
• Public Awareness - Biomethane production is not very well known in society as a lever in the energy transition and as a contributor towards energy security. This can be tackled through education and demonstration of the value biomethane plants can bring to communities and society.??
• Targets – A lack of concrete targets threatens to hamper progress too. While positive in many ways, REPowerEU is in fact not binding, so Shell actively encourages the creation of national biomethane strategies and targets, with clear short-, medium- and long-term objectives.??

To support the aims set out in REPowerEU, including the goal to reach 35bcm biomethane production per year by 2030, the European Commission has created the Biomethane Industrial Partnership, promoting sustainable production and usage. Though it’s early days, it is a good indication of how public and private spheres can come together to contribute to these shared aims.??

Ultimately, while not a silver bullet, biomethane can contribute to industry’s net-zero aims, but only if regulatory barriers are overcome by forward-thinking policy initiatives and fast-moving private innovators.??

Thanks for reading. Be sure to keep an eye out for future news and thoughts around the role that biofuels can play in industry’s continuing journey to net zero.?

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Sources?

[1] Tom Cyrs and John Feldmann. “7 things to know about renewable natural gas.” GreenBiz. January 07, 2021.???

[2] Shell Nederland. “Nu beschikbaar: Shell BioLNG voor wegtransport.”?

* Approx. 30% CO2eq. The “Greenhouse Gas Intensity of Natural Gas” study by Thinkstep for NGVA Europe (2017). For the comparison, the diesel well-to-wheel (95.1 gCO2eq/MJ) taken from the above report comes from the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD)?

[3] International Energy Agency. “Outlook for biogas and biomethane: Prospects for organic growth.” March 2020.?

[4] European Commission. “Biomethane.”?

[5] Gasworld. “The issue of permitting in the biogas industry.” YouTube. July 24, 2023.??

Cautionary note: https://www.shell.com/investors/disclaimer-and-cautionary-note.html??

Image: Korskro Plant, Denmark??

#Biomethane #Biofuels #Decarbonisation?