2024-03-07 10:30:30
According to the International Energy Agency, biogas production is expected to increase by 33% worldwide between 2022 and 2028. European countries are at the forefront of this dynamism, including France, which relies heavily on the injection of biomethane. in gas networks.
Eyes are often turned towards wind power and photovoltaic solar power when we talk about renewable energy (EnR). However, biogas production is just as important for decarbonizing the economy. Gas supply tensions in Europe following the war in Ukraine have reminded us that methanization is a completely mature technology. For the first time, the International Energy Agency has dedicated part of its latest report on renewable energyrecalling its virtues: creation of local activity and employment, improvement of energy independence, recovery of organic waste, substitution of fossil fuels in industry and transport, reduction of CO emissions2 and methane, fertilizer production.
Diversity of primary resources, diversity of uses, diversity of production sizes, are also part of the characteristics of biogas, allowing it to adapt to different country configurations. The AIE thus notes that Europe, the leading producer of biogas (700 PJ), mainly uses the cogeneration of electricity and heat, with nevertheless an increase in injection into the networks in the form of biomethane. China, second on the podium with 340 PJ, has historically developed small methane digesters for direct residential uses. Although they are predominant, these domestic productions are starting to give way to industrial-sized installations under the impetus of Chinese incentive policies.
+33% by 2028
The IEA estimates that 1,621 PJ (450 GWh) of biogas was produced in 2022 worldwide, and this figure could reach 2,157 PJ (600 GWh) in 2028. Countries at the forefront have support mechanisms to support this growth. India, the United States and Germany are particularly targeting the use of bioNGV for vehicles. In Europe, biomethane already represents 20% of the gas used in transport. This solution still has a high production cost: on the European market, the IEA estimates that it is between €55 and €90/MWh. Comparatively, the price of fossil gas is currently trading around €25-30/MWh (TTF spot market reference), but it had exceeded €70 from October 2021 to January 2023. According to the IEA, a carbon tax of 90 €/tCO2 would make fossil gas more expensive by €18/MWh, which would allow biogas to be more easily competitive.
The purification of biogas into biomethane for its injection into gas networks is carried out by many countries. The European Union has set an ambitious goal in this direction in its REPowerEU plan. Perhaps too ambitious, moreover, because it requires multiplying by seven the quantity of biomethane injected by Member States by 2030.
France intends to do its part. At the end of 2023, the former Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher announced the launch of a call for tenders for the creation of new methanization facilities. The sites, which must have a capacity greater than 25 GWh/year, will benefit from a 15-year purchase contract for the biomethane injected into the gas networks. The objective is to ultimately generate additional overall production of 1.6 TWh/year, while the volume already produced amounted to 11.8 TWh/year at the end of January 2024. The biomethane sector is one of the only renewable energies to have exceeded the objectives set for it in France for 2023, with a jump of + 18% between 2023 and 2022.
France has very strong potential
For 2030, the French energy strategy currently being revised could target 15% biomethane in French gas consumption, while we are currently barely approaching 3%. A significant share nevertheless since the counter was at zero in 2010. The French dynamic is among the most positive in Europe as shown by a benchmark produced by SIA Partners. The data, consolidated at the end of 2022, shows that our continent produces 44 TWh of biomethane per year, with France providing a quarter of it. In fact, of the 1,200 production sites, France has 514* and Germany more than 250. All other European countries have less than a hundred sites. But size plays a big role: in Denmark, around fifty sites inject nearly 6 TWh, which already corresponds to 19% of the gas consumption of this country which is aiming for 100% by 2030!
The resources used for methanization are, in order of importance, agricultural waste, energy crops, other organic waste and sewage sludge. Although energy crops were developed very early on by Germany and have long been in the majority, they have stagnated since 2016, while the use of agricultural waste has increased significantly, driven by the priority that France gives them. They are now in the lead, but the mixes are still very diverse depending on the country (see graph below).
Obviously, depending on its waste resources and the importance of its agricultural sector, each European country does not have the same potential for biomethane development by 2050. Germany and Denmark have already reached high levels, with respectively 62% and 41% of their potential, according to SIA Partners. Other countries like Italy, United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Austria are between 20 and 35%. France, having so far exploited just less than 5% of its methanization potential, really has an opportunity to increase its gas consumption with biomethane, while creating new income-generating activities for farmers. .
* Gas network operators numbered 656 at the end of January 2024
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