Bioenergy Fact Sheet

Last Update 2020

Biomethane
DEFINITION & PROPERTIES
The term biomethane is used to describe methane that was derived from biomass. Biomethane has
comparable properties to natural gas and thus can be transported and stored in the available facilities
and infrastructure.
Currently available processes to produce biomethane are (1) Anaerobic digestion followed by upgrading
and (2) Biomass gasification followed by methanation. In addition, methane can also be produced by
combining CO2 with H2 in a Power to Methane pathway when using biomass-derived CO2 (3). All these
pathways use different feedstocks and conversion technologies.

PRODUCTION PROCESSES
(1) Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion and the following upgrading of biogas is the process with the highest relevance,
accounting for about 90 % of total biomethane production worldwide. This process allows a range of
different feedstocks, e.g. sewage sludge or biowaste. Microorganisms digest these feedstocks with the
absence of oxygen in a biogas plant, resulting in biogas. Different separation processes are available for
the upgrading to achieve biomethane, for example water scrubbing or membrane separation. While
initially biogas was primarily used for power and heat production directly at the biogas plant, an
increasing number of installations now upgrade the biogas to biomethane for further use.

Gas composition Biogas Biomethane Natural Gas

Methane 50–75 % 94–99.9 % 93–98 %
Carbon Dioxide 25–45 % 0.1–4 % 1%
Nitrogen <2 % <3 % 1%
Oxygen <2 % <1 % -
Hydrogen <1 % Traces -
Hydrogen Sulphide 20 – 20,000 ppm <10 ppm -
Ammonia Traces Traces -
Ethane - - <3 %
Propane - - <2 %
Siloxane Traces - -
Water 2–7% - -
LHV 16–28 MJ/m³ 36 MJ/m3 37-40 MJ/m³
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Last Update 2020

Table 1: Comparison of biogas, biomethane and natural gas

Feedstock:
Sewage
sludge, animal Organic
Digestate
by-products, Fertilizer
vegetable by- Anaerobic
products, digestion Combustion in
household (Biogas plant) Heat and power
CHP engines
biowaste,
Biogas
primary and
secondary Upgrading Biomethane
crops

CO2, other contaminants

Figure 1: Production of biomethane through anaerobic digestion and upgrading

(2) Biomass gasification

The process of biomass gasification uses woody biomass as feedstock and applies high temperatures
of 700-800°C and high pressure in a low-oxygen environment. This results in a mixture of gases like
carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane, called syngas. In the methanation process, this syngas is
cleaned and the following methanation step produces pure biomethane (BioSNG) and removes CO2, H20
and other unwanted components.

High T and p
Catalyst
Biochar CHP Engines
Feedstock:
Gasification
Wood chips
Syngas Methanation Biomethane Gas Grid

CNG vehicles
CO2, H2O

Figure 2: Production of biomethane through biomass gasification and methanation

 Bioenergy Fact Sheet
Last Update 2020

(3) Power to Methane

The Power to Methane (P2M) process presents a way to store renewable electricity surpluses in gaseous
form (methane). In this process, electricity surplus is used for electrolysis, whereas water is hydrolysed
to create hydrogen. CO2 is used for the methanation of the hydrogen. CO2 can be derived from biomass-
based processes (e.g. biogas or bioethanol production), from ambient air, or from the flue gas of
installations burning fossil sources. Depending on the source of CO2, the resulting methane is either a
biofuel, a renewable fuel of non-biological origin, or a recycled carbon fuel. All of these have GHG emission
benefits over fossil methane.

CO2
(biomass CHP
derived) engines

Methanation Biomethane Gas Grid

Renewable Electricity CNG

Electrolysis Hydrogen
Electricity surplus vehicles

Figure 3: Production of biomethane through the Power to methane process

APPLICATIONS
Due to its similarity to natural gas, biomethane can be used in existing infrastructure. Possible
applications are: as fuel in vehicle engines, as fuel in CHP plants as a large-scale application for heat and
electricity production, for cooking purposes in households and for all purposes (e.g. industrial
applications) for which natural gas is used from the gas grid.

EXAMPLES OF DEMOPLANTS
Operator: NAWARO® BioEnergie AG
Güstrow, Germany
Biogas power plant
Commissioning: 2009
Technology: Biogas power plant and upgrading
Plant: 20 fermenters in total, each with a capacity of 5,000 t
Feedstock: 400,000 tons per year, mainly maize
Production capacity: 43 - 46 million m³ biomethane per year
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Last Update 2020

Operator: Formerly Goteborg Energi AB

GoBiGas Phase 1
Gothenburg, Sweden
Gasification and methanation demonstration plant
Commissioning: 2013-2018, restart planned
Technology: Repotec gasification and Haldor Topsoe methanation technology
Feedstock: Forest residues, wood pellets, branches and tree tops
Production: SNG (11,200 t/y), heat (5 MW), power (electricity) (6 MW)

Operator: Uniper SE
Falkenhagen, Germany
Power to Gas
Demonstration Plant
Commissioning: 2016
Energy source: Wind
Electrical input: 2 MW
Hydrogen Output: 360 Nm³/h

SOURCES
 https://www.europeanbiogas.eu/about-biogas-and-biomethane/
 https://www.ieabioenergy.com/publications/biomethane-status-and-factors-affecting-
market-development-and-trade/
 https://www.iea.org/reports/outlook-for-biogas-and-biomethane-prospects-for-organic-
growth/an-introduction-to-biogas-and-biomethane
 https://www.iangv.org/natural-gas-vehicles/natural-gas/

FURTHER INFORMATION
 http://task37.ieabioenergy.com/plant-list.html
 http://www.gm-greenmethane.it/en-us/applications
 https://www.biogas-to-biomethane.com/Download/BTB.pdf
 https://www.uniper.energy/storage/de/geschaeft/power-to-gas
 https://demoplants.best-research.eu/
 https://www.nawaro.ag/