Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
it possible to deliver further proof in case of doubt, even after discharge
from the gas grid.
In order to further enable trade and promotion of biomethane inside the
natural gas grid, a combination of mass balancing and quality certification is
needed. Quality requirements define the type of registered biomethane
quantities. Such quality requirements may be specified related to substrate
input, facility sizes, sustainability criteria and many more, depending on the
demands of the market. On the base of this, trading parties can define
biomethane deliveries inside the gas grid. German governmental support
schemes define more than 50 different biomethane products and sub-
products, all aiming at different tariffs, bonuses, tax refunds or quota
fulfillments (dena, 2012a).
When defining quality requirements, it is important to consider that, at
the moment of feed-in (and mass balancing registration), the decision about
the final application of the biomethane is still potentially open. Vendors in
the trade chain may decide differently about the market or the desired
support scheme for biomethane amounts of the same origin. Therefore,
amounts cannot be classified by their final application (e.g. CHP gas, vehicle
fuel, etc.) at the moment of feed-in.
In order to avoid fraudulent or inaccurate claims, independent auditors
certify the amounts and quality of registered amounts and report to the
mass balancing system. Corrections to meter readings need to be made, for
example if fossil propane is added to biomethane for adjustment of calorific
value.
If an amount is removed from the mass balancing system, the resulting
certificate should contain information about the final application. Thus, the
individual certificate can only be applied for this special purpose (e.g. power
generation support scheme, fuel quota, heating) - otherwise, multiple
applications of the certificate are still possible.
19.4.1 Case study: the German biogas register
(Biogasregister Deutschland)
The German biogas register 'Biogasregister Deutschland' was established by
the German Energy Agency (dena) and 14 companies from the biomethane
industry. It started operation in 2011 and has become an important element
of verification management, as a complement to gas balancing within the
grid and trading steps in the market. The register was financed and designed
without any direct involvement of the government or state - however, the
responsible federal ministry for the environment (Bundesministerium fu¨ r
Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit) accompanied parts of the
process with advice and recommendations.
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