by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … First, let’s make sure we aren’t confusing biogas with biomethane. Biogas is mostly methane and carbon dioxide but that doesn’t mean it’s biomethane. You see, biogas is produced from organic matter breaking down in the absence of oxygen, but biomethane is biogas that has been upgraded to a methane concentration of 90% or more and is more similar to fossil natural gas thus making it useful for the usual natural gas markets (transportation, electricity, etc.).
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Feedstocks are aplenty for biomethane. Some facilities use food waste, some use animal manure from cows and chickens, some use agricultural waste, some use landfills.
Biomethane can be used in so many markets it can make your head spin. It can be used for transport fuel, for electricity, as a feedstock for plastic chemicals and source for methanol, ammonia, acetic acid formaldehyde, and a s a source for renewable hydrogen, too. If there ever was a wonder drug, biomethane could be it in some ways. Heck, the process of converting biogas to biomethane often produces digestate which even that nasty fibrous residue waste product can be handy as a feedstock for biofuel production and innovative fiber building materials.
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The biomethane market is expected to grow. According to a recent market research report, “the global biomethane market gas has witnessed massive traction in the recent past and has attracted a number of new companies, making the competitive dynamics highly dynamic and competitive. …”
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Even with all these companies and facilities that are already producing biomethane, it doesn’t mean we hit a peak at all.
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So what does all this say about biomethane? Is it the wave of the future? Is it the Holy Grail? Is it the flying unicorn? If there is one thing we do know, it’s that biomethane is hot, hot, hot.
Even if achieving low carbon technologies is why we are seeing the recent jump in biomethane, we don’t think that’s the only reason. It just makes sense plan and simple. It’s taking waste and doing something valuable with it. It’s replacing a non-renewable fossil fuel product (fuel, plastic chemical, electricity, etc.) with something that is considered renewable. And for those reasons, we see a promising future for it. READ MORE