1What is biogas?
Biogas is a combustible gas derived from decomposing biological waste in absence of oxygen (called anaerobic digestion). It is primarily made up methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) gases.
2Is biogas technology well proven and deployed?
Biogas is widely deployed in India and China with millions of small scale plants treating waste in communities and generating gas for cooking and fertiliser for growing crops. Germany has more than 5,000 agricultural based biogas plants alone, it is also a requirement for all sewage treatment facilities to capture and use methane from anaerobic digestion (including for power) and as such there are more than 1,000 biogas units installed for this purpose.
3What is the most efficient use of biogas?
Direct combustion of the biogas (for heat) is still the most energy efficient option. The biogas can be directly used for cooking, heating and lighting. BioBowser RT provides a range of high-efficiency biogas usage equipment.
4Can biogas be used to generate electricity?
Yes, to generate electricity the biogas plant must have a gas-fed electric generator. The gas quantity will depend on the air temperature, type of waste, and appropriate maintenance-the more gas produced, the more excess gas is available to generate power.
5What else can biogas be used for?
Biogas can be compressed and converted into “Bio-CNG”, which may be used to transport fuel or for stationary energy generation.
6Why is it important to capture CH₄ from organic waste?
The rotting waste releases significant amounts of methane (CH₄) -a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide- straight into the atmosphere. However, when captured, methane can be used to generate energy that can help power business operations while helping maximise the value of organic waste.
7Does AD technology reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Yes. By diverting organic waste from landfill and applying AD technology, biogas can be produced and combusted. In this process the global warming potential (GWP) of CH₄ is reduced approximately 21 times. If the biogas is used to generate electricity, the consumption of carbon-intensive grid distributed power is also avoided, as is the need to purchase LPG and fossil fuel-derived fertiliser.
