Country Report Summary 2016

IEA Bioenergy Task 37 – Country Reports Summary 2016

Spring 2017

Summary

Biogas production in the IEA Bioenergy Task 37 member countries is clearly dominated by Germany with more than 10,000 biogas plants. None of the other member countries have each more than 1,000 biogas plants (see Figure 16.1).

The annual biogas production is around 100 TWh in Germany, 23 TWh in the UK25, 5.5 in France, 4 TWh in Brazil and 4 TWh in the Netherlands. Remaining countries show production rates in the range of 0.5-2 TWh (see Figure 16.2). In countries like UK and South Korea, the biogas produced in landfills is the largest source, while the landfill gas is only a minor contributor in countries like Germany, Switzerland and Denmark, indicating the degree of landfilling of organic waste material. The actual biogas production is not reported in all countries, so in this report it has been calculated, based mostly on the electricity production with an assumed efficiency of 35%.

The biogas produced is in most countries mainly used for generation of heat and electricity, with the exception of Sweden where approximately half of the produced biogas is used as vehicle fuel. Germany is second in absolute numbers (460 GWh). Many other countries, such as France, The Netherlands, Denmark and South Korea, have emerging markets for biomethane as an automotive fuel.

The amount of biomethane produced and the number of biogas upgrading plants is increasing. In Figure 16.3a the distribution of 480 biogas upgrading plants among the IEA Bioenergy Task 37 member countries is shown; the technologies used is indicated in Figure 16.3b.

The two countries in the top in last years report, Germany and Sweden, have stagnant markets. Thus UK has now taken over the second position from Sweden, with 30 new plants since last year. France and Switzerland are the only other countries with significant growth, the other countries more or less standing still. In the UK growth might soon stop because of major changes in the supporting policies.

Financial support systems are very different from country to country. Various systems with feed-in tariffs, investment grants and tax exemptions exist. A clear correlation between the financial support system and the way biogas is utilised is evident in the Task 37 member countries. In the UK and Germany with feedin tariffs for electricity, this has led to most of the biogas being used to produce electricity, while the system with tax exemption in Sweden favours utilisation of the biogas as an automotive fuel. With benefits offered, gas grid injection will grow, as is the case in France, Denmark and the UK.