Biogas Market
Comes on Strong
Government subsidies and growth of “green” movement propels
power generation market segment
Throughout many countries the biogas-fueled power generation market remains
buoyant, with equipment suppliers and plant builders reporting soaring order
books. In general terms the marketplace for power equipment in the biogas sector is
of interest to makers of reciprocating gas engines and compact microturbines, industries that supply components to operate them and companies that specialize in
putting together the entire power plant capable of turning biogas into electricity.
Biogas is produced by the anaerobic digestion or fermentation of such things as some
solid waste, sewage, manure or biodegradable waste or feedstock and is also termed,
depending on its production location, as swamp, digester, marsh or landfill gas.
The financial benefits associated with providing electricity generated from renewable energy has made companies involved in the sector sit up and expand their
interests. High energy prices and enhanced subsidies for electricity made from
renewable resources have led to the increased use of biogas sources. Another driver
is the European Union Landfill Directive, whose aim is “to prevent or reduce as far
as possible negative effects on the environment, in particular the pollution of surface
water, groundwater, soil and air, and on the global environment, including the
greenhouse effect, as well as any resulting risk to human health, from the landfilling
of waste, during the whole life cycle of the landfill.”
The Directive sets demanding targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable
municipal material that goes to landfill and can ultimately create potentially lethal
methane gas, 23 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Estimates by researchers have suggested that the European Union market for
electricity generated from landfill, sewage and other biogas will increase from the
figure of 1500 MW in 2004 to 4000 MW in 2010.
One of the countries at the forefront of biogas projects is Germany, where farmers, industrialists and homeowners invested heavily in new sources of renewable
energy in 2006. Examples include biogas power plants and wind turbines to take
advantage of government laws, which
pay them an attractive price for their
electricity that is fed into the grid.
For example, it is estimated that
manure-fired power plants generate
nearly 5 TWh per year of electricity,
equivalent to some 1% of consumption, according to the Bundesverband
Erneuerbare Energie (German Renewable Energy Association).
Advocates of biogas argue that such
is the possible threat posed by climate
change and the competition to extract
remaining fossil fuel so intense that the
sooner renewable sources of energy
becomes widely adopted the better.
One company involved in biogas
energy projects in Germany and
around Europe is U.K.-based Alkane
Energy headquartered in Edwinstowe,
Nottinghamshire, England.
Through its subsidiary Pro2, which is
based at Willich near Düsseldorf in
Germany, it designs and manufactures
climate change reduction technology
and power generation systems that convert gas from coal mines, biodegradable
waste, landfill sites and sewage works
into renewable energy.
Pro2 develops and builds facilities for
energy supply, gas treatment and gas
utilization with its product range including cogeneration power plants, systems
for the utilization of biogas, sewage gas,
coal mine gas and landfill gas.
Its plants are based on containerized
reciprocating gas engines/generator
packages supplied either by MAN in
the 200 to 400 k W range or Deutz in
the 500 kW to 2. 35 MW range.
Typically the Deutz LC620V16K is the
standard unit used in the 1. 35 MW
containerized generation system. A further advantage of Pro2’s modular
approach to power generation and gas
extraction is that larger plants can be
built up using additional containers,
the company said.
The fastest-growing sector in Germany uses methane produced from the
anaerobic digestion of biomass crops
such as rye and maize. According to the
company, due to the premium prices
paid under the German Renewable
Energy Law (EEG) feed-in tariff for
