Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to 8.7 TWh/year by 2020. Law updates from 2011 established feed-in
support schemes for feed-in of biomethane into the gas grid and for the
feed-in of bio-power (ACTU, 2010).
Austria has no official national target yet. However, the ministries of
economy and environment have agreed on a target of 200,000 cars using
natural gas with at least 20% biogas by 2020. A strategy for biogas and
biomethane is being worked out at the time of writing. The Austrian
focus is on transportation. However, a new support scheme comes into
effect in 2012, with focus on power and with explicit regulations about
biomethane feed-in (BMWFJ & Lebensministerium, 2010).
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The UK's NREAP aims to replace 15% of fossil fuels by 2020 (DECC,
2010). Biomethane is explicitly mentioned as a substitute here, as well as
in the government's renewable energy strategy (DECC, 2009) - in both
cases without further quantification. The UK government has proposed
injection at 7 TWh/y by 2015 (about 1.5% of the domestic gas customer
market). Hopes are raised by the recently established renewable heat
incentive, defines which support for renewable heat production and
biomethane is mentioned as a key supported technology (DECC, 2011).
The support pattern is comparable to the German EEG with a fixed
price of 6.5 pence/kWh (about 8 cents/kWh) for a period of 20 years.
Therefore, it has been stated that the UK biomethane market is about to
make the breakthrough (DECC, 2009, 2010, 2011; Mahnke, 2012).
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The feedstock applied also differs from country to country. While German
biomethane production is dominated by energy crops, the UK focuses on
organic wastes. Pioneers of European biomethane upgrade and feed-in are
the Netherlands, where plants have been operating since the late 1980s.
Sweden operated the highest number of upgrading plants in Europe until
2011, when it was overtaken by the rapid expansion in Germany. As the
Swedish gas grid only covers parts of the country, distribution is often
achieved by road transport. Of 47 upgrading plants in total, only 8 actually
do feed-in. Biomethane is predominately applied as a vehicle fuel in Sweden
(dena, 2011).
Table 19.1 presents details on feed-in plants and capacities, market drivers
and dominating feedstocks in European countries. Figure 19.2 illustrates
feed-in capacity.
In contrast to the national differences already mentioned, consistent
European legislation can be referred to in the application of biomethane as
vehicle fuel. Directive 2009/28/EC defines targets for renewable energy
supply in transport (RES-T) that have to be fulfilled by all Member States.
Biomethane may be used as a renewable transport fuel in NGVs and thus
help to allow compliance with the RES-T targets. Due to this European
regulation, a European standard and, in theory, a European market for
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