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is possible - this can help balancing other fluctuating renewable power
sources. The choice of potential substrates for biomethane is, of course, just
as versatile as that for biogas and ranges from organic residues to energy
plants. All these possibilities turn biomethane into the 'joker'
in the
renewable energy game.
From a political perspective, there are further unique selling points for
biomethane. Independence from energy imports increases with the
substitution of natural gas for 'home-grown' biomethane. At present,
biomethane cannot substitute a nation's supply of natural gas during
interruptions to imports in a cold winter month. However, an increased
share of biomethane from within its own borders makes a nation's natural
gas supply more reliable. Additionally, the generation of biomethane is
economically attractive to the producing country in terms of reducing the
costs of importing fuel and increasing employment in the production chain.
Rural areas especially profit from biomethane production because a
considerable part of the revenue along the value chain is generated there.
Biomethane can be sold as green gas products to consumers, or can be
applied according to government support schemes. Legislation in the EU
overall and the respective European countries increasingly includes
biomethane in support schemes. In many countries, upgrading and feed-in
to the gas grid is a well-established practice and government support
schemes have triggered market development. These countries include the
Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. Others,
like Hungary and Italy, are developing their first facilities at the time of
writing (see Section 19.2). Transport through the gas grid needs to be
accompanied by corresponding certification and mass balancing systems
(see Section 19.3). One example of such a mass balancing system is the
German Biogasregister Deutschland, as outlined in Section 19.4.
19.2 Market development
Biomethane was first mentioned in European legislation (as 'biogas') in
directive 2003/55/EC. This directive declared a common European market
for natural gas, with biomethane as an equal player. This directive was
repealed in the meantime by directive 2009/73/EC. In both directives, access
to the gas grid, free of discrimination, is granted to biomethane. Although
daily business in the case of natural gas, no major European market for
biomethane with cross-border trade has developed so far. Different realities
in Member States have slowed down the development of a European market
for biomethane. A lack of European gas grid technical standards poses
barriers for transport between countries. International legislation with
differences and incompatibilities regarding grid ownership, national support
schemes, auditing and certification complicate international cooperation
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