Why biogas in Germany?

 

Reason 1: Stable market and legal mechanism

Germany has a national gas grid and the use of biomethane gas has been encouraged by the government since 2000 and saw a boom in 2009 with the introduction of lucrative feed in tariffs  In Germany the government have set stable feed in tariffs for the biogas industry through the 2000 Renewable Energy Sources Act provided fixed revenues for plant owners making it a very popular industry, notably for the farming community.

 

German law states that gas grid operators must connect all biogas plants to the national gas grid. This is done by connecting the biogas plants to a gas pipeline. The gas produced by a biogas plant must be up to standard and if is then the gas grid operators manage the quality control, metering and compression (Stephanblome, T, 2011) .

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Reason 2: Feedstock

The feedstock used to power biogas plants is a key part of their green status. The feedstock that is fermented using anaerobic digestion produces the biomethane which is then fed back into the national gas grid. There is a constant source of waste from farming, as biogas plants can digest multiple types of waste from manure to crops. The German government is trying to encourage innovative projects that will allow biogas plants to become more flexible and continue to use the newest technologies.

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Reason 3: Emission targets

Germany has the most biogas plants in Europe and using biogas as an energy source is a key part of Germany’s plan to decarbonise it’s economy. Germany currently gets 38% of it’s total energy from renewable energy sources but has the aim of increasing this to 45% by 2025. This is to be partnered with closure of several nuclear power plants around the country which means that Germany needs to increase the number of renewable energy projects in order to meet this goal.  In addition, reducing biowaste is an essential step for any country to become more carbon neutral and using anaerobic digestion reduces waste and produces clean energy.