Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
product with special features and advantages. Increasingly, laws and
strategies are including biomethane. Awareness of biomethane as an
attractive renewable energy source is steadily rising, thanks in some part
to its inclusion in NREAPs. However, as of 2012, biomethane is still not
considered in the selection of available renewable technologies in many
countries.
In the long term, a European strategy for biomethane could be designed
to boost production. This strategy could focus on standardized production
conditions (sustainability, agriculture), deliver an approach to international
exchange of biomethane or establish a framework to pan-European power
grid balancing.
Guiding biomethane production from dependency on government
support schemes to market competition with fossil natural gas may be
another future challenge. A rising price for natural gas will accelerate this
process. On a European level, the European cap-and-trade for GHGs may
also be a future driving factor: application of biomethane omits GHG
emissions, therefore no compensation with GHG certificates is necessary.
However, it may take some time before either the price for natural gas or for
certificates bridges the gap.
European biomethane markets are going to emerge over the coming years
in line with expansion of biomethane feed-in. The growth rate of the
German market is expected to slow down, but strong growth is expected in
other countries, for example the UK. International markets may evolve in
the next few years if barriers to the transfer of biomethane between countries
can be removed. Until such transfer can be done freely, non-transparent
regulations, different standards and administrative barriers need to be
overcome. This issue is addressed, for example, by the GreenGasGrids
project (www.greengasgrids.eu; Strauch and Krassowski, 2012). Evolving
markets will create their own demand and supply, and exchange between the
countries will be favorable. The green gas product market is also open to
international trade. The establishment of the biofuels quota has created a
first European market on this field. Legislation regarding sustainability
criteria is an example for European certification standards.
Different countries have created their own set of support schemes that are
focused on individual situations and are designed with respect to the
countries' priorities. Countries could open their support schemes to
imported biomethane from neighboring countries so that international
trade can develop. However, support schemes are usually intended to
implement a national source of energy and are therefore unlikely to be
opened for exchange.
International trade of biomethane should be based on exchange of
biomethane amounts between mass balancing systems. Broadly accepted
mass balancing systems can facilitate customs clearance by transparent
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