5-2025 Newsletter IEA Task 37
Topics:
- IEA Global Energy Review
- Task 37: Potential for Manure-based Anaerobic Digestion in six countries
- Policy needs and gaps for a sustainable bioenergy sector in the EU
- Iowa energy bill aims to create new regulations for anaerobic digestion systems
- Zeldin begins remaking EPA amid workforce changes
- Burgenland Energie sees potential of biomethane for the energy transition
- New Austrian government and its program
- European automobile plan: ACEA calls for continued technological openness
- Colorado’s proposed landfill methane rule may include first-ever provisions
- British Columbia to enforce local biofuel content requirements
- French Senate rejects ban on combustion-powered vehicles in 2035
- Quebec: A Canadian Leader in RNG
- What’s next for Renewable Fuels in the USA?
- Renewable gas industry urges EU to unblock imports
- GD4S calls for accelerated development of green gas in Europe
- Let Green Gas Count
- Renewable Natural Gas Gets a Bipartisan Boost on Capitol Hill
IEA Global Energy Review
In March, the IEA published its 2024 Global Energy Review. The latest data show that the world’s appetite for energy rose at a faster-than-average pace in 2024, resulting in higher demand for all energy sources, including oil, natural gas, coal, renewables and nuclear power. This growth was led by the power sector, with demand for electricity rising almost twice as fast as wider energy demand due to higher demand for cooling, rising consumption by industry, the electrification of transport and the growth of data centres and artificial intelligence. Natural gas saw the strongest increase in demand among fossil fuels in 2024. Gas demand rose by 115 bcm, or 2.7%, compared with an average of around 75 bcm annually over the past decade.
Task 37: Potential for Manure-based Anaerobic Digestion in six countries
From a feedstock supply perspective, there is great potential to convert more manure to renewable energy via anaerobic digestion (AD) technology platforms. However, currently only a small percentage of manure is converted into biogas. Of the six countries on three continents described in the report (Canada, China, Finland, Norway, UK and France), the latter has the highest adoption of AD, digesting 19% of available manure. With the expanded availability of renewable electricity and focus on climate change action, today’s policies and incentives promote biomethane production, i.e. biogas upgrading over CHP. This presents a challenge to manure – based AD, particularly for smaller farm installations that are not located near natural gas pipelines. It was also noted that countries do face push back on providing public support for renewable energy projects – in terms of both the type and size of the support, and its duration. High capital and operating costs for both AD systems and supporting infrastructure, few revenue streams and low energy prices are the main financial barriers to the adoption of AD as they hinder the profitability of these systems. While some manure-based facilities generate revenue from co-digesting food waste or biowaste, it is rare for facilities to receive income from digestate or biogenic CO2.
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Policy needs and gaps for a sustainable bioenergy sector in the EU
The transition to a sustainable energy future hinges on the implementation of robust and well-informed policies. Bioenergy and renewable fuels play a pivotal role in diminishing greenhouse gas emissions, alleviating our dependence on fossil fuels, and encouraging a circular economy. The report on “Policy needs and gaps for a sustainable bioenergy sector” was a collaborative effort by RISE Sweden, BEST Austria, CSD UK, and EUREC. The policy needs and gaps identified in the report were determined through a combination of methods including Citizen panels, Scenarios foresight and Online stakeholder surveys. The results demonstrate that policies must prioritize making bioenergy more economically viable than fossil fuels. This entails streamlining policies and incentives to unlock bioenergy’s potential in various areas, such as defossilising transport and other sectors. Advanced biofuels and bioenergy should be recognised as lasting solutions for the shipping and aviation sectors, as emphasized by FuelEU Maritime and ReFuelEU Aviation. While focusing on these sectors is crucial, maintaining attention on bioenergy’s role in the road sector is equally important
Iowa energy bill aims to create new regulations for anaerobic digestion systems
Energy legislation proposed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in February, in part, aims to establish new regulations related to the construction, expansion and operation of anaerobic digestion facilities within the state. The bills were introduced early February. Committees in both houses of the Iowa legislature have since voted to advance the bills.
Zeldin begins remaking EPA amid workforce changes
After the first months of President Donald Trump’s time in office, federal officials are beginning to make good on efforts to shrink the federal government. Recent changes include canceled contracts at the U.S. EPA and new announcements regarding workforce reductions. Groups representing the public sector have pushed back on some of these changes. Lawyers for Good Government reported receiving more than 230 requests for legal assistance from organizations struggling to access climate and clean energy grants
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Burgenland Energie sees potential of biomethane for the energy transition
The Austrian local energy supplier Burgenland Energie is planning to produce biomethane from agricultural waste to replace fossil natural gas. From 2025, biomethane is to be fed into the gas grid in Parndorf to cover 40% of the demand of three municipalities. The EU is aiming for biomethane production of 35 billion m³ by 2030, but Austria still lacks the political framework to implement this.
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New Austrian government and its program
In terms of energy, the three flagship projects in the new government program – the Renewable Expansion Acceleration Act, the Electricity Industry Act and the Renewable Gases Act – immediately stand out. The Renewable Gases Act (EGG) sets a target for the expansion of green gases (biomethane, hydrogen, syngas) of New Austrian government and its program The Renewable Gases Act (EGG) sets a target for the expansion of green gases (biomethane, hydrogen, syngas) of 6.5 TWh per year by 2030. An amendment to the Renewable Energies Expansion Act (EAG) is also being considered in the government program. Another important point in the government program is the aforementioned acceleration of the process through the Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act (EABG).
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European automobile plan: ACEA calls for continued technological openness
While the European Commission has just presented a new action plan with a strong focus on electric vehicles, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) is calling for continued technological openness. While many are warning of the risks of this mono-technological approach, it is clear that electric vehicles remain an essential, if not the only, focus of the automotive action plan presented by the European Commission on March 5, 2025. Drawn up as part of a strategic dialogue with industry representatives, the plan sets out a series of measures to support the development of electrification in various sectors, including heavy-duty vehicles. While ACEA recognizes the “pragmatic turn” of the plan presented by the Commission, it points to the need to “maintain technological openness”. In the face of global competition and dependence on battery technology controlled by other regions, maintaining flexibility for all technologies, including PHEVs, range extenders, hydrogen and other climate-neutral solutions, is crucial to Europe’s resilience and strategic autonomy,” ACEA said in a statement published earlier this week. This statement echoes a recent position paper by France Mobilité Biogaz, which called on the European Commission to anticipate the revision of the CO2 regulation for heavy goods vehicles in order to integrate renewable fuels such as bioNGV.
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Colorado’s proposed landfill methane rule may include first-ever provisions
Colorado’s Department of Public Health & Environment is pressing forward with a range of modifications to landfill gas emissions requirements, including earlier installation of gas collection and control systems and the adoption of technologies like aerial monitoring and biofilters. The draft rule aligns Colorado’s rules more closely with states such as California, Washington and Maryland that exceed federal requirements. Landfill operators WM and Republic Services weighed in on the proposal during a technical advisory process last year, as have environmental justice groups. In 2020, Colorado’s landfills emitted 1.445 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The state planning to set a waste-in-place threshold at 450,000 tons, after which operators must measure their methane generation rates. The waste-in-place threshold is lower than federal standards.
British Columbia to Enforce Local Biofuel Content Requirements
The government of British Columbia is enforcing local biofuel content requirements in a bid to strengthen the province’s energy resilience and support local producers. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, the minimum 5 percent renewable-fuel requirement for gasoline must be met with eligible renewable fuels produced in Canada, according to a statement from the government. To support B.C. and Canadian biofuel producers, protect local jobs throughout the supply chain, and strengthen British Columbia’s energy security, the provincial government said it is making key amendments to regulations under the Low Carbon Fuels Act that prioritize the inclusion of Canadian biofuels in B.C.’s transportation fuels. According to the statement, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is one of B.C.’s most effective climate policies, avoiding more than 3.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions globally in 2023.
French Senate rejects ban on combustion-powered vehicles in 2035
On the night of March 11 to 12, the French Senate refused to enshrine in French law a ban on the sale of new combustion-powered vehicles in 2035. The Senate has just ruled out enshrinement of the target in French law. For the time being, French law will therefore maintain the 2040 deadline set in the Mobility Orientation Act. The Senators are not the only ones to have voted against banning internal combustion vehicles by 2035: in February, the French National Assembly had already voted by a majority against the measure.
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Quebec: A Canadian Leader in RNG
Quebec remains Canada’s leader in terms of the number of RNG projects in operation, under construction, and in development. As of today, nine projects are injecting RNG into Énergir’s network, four are under construction, and some 30 additional projects have received a government grant to carry out a study or begin construction. The development of the RNG market continues to grow. In fact, the first multi-user hub for receiving RNG produced far from the gas grid is currently under construction in Saint-Flavien, near major agricultural production zones. Part of the RNG will be injected another part is liquified.
In addition, 2024 has been marked by a number of positive developments supporting RNG. On the regulatory front, Bill 69 announced will encourage greater use of renewable energies by introducing a more appropriate pricing system enabling the distributor to sell RNG to willing consumers at a price distinct from the acquisition price, without generating a profit margin. Other elements of the bill would encourage the development of Québec production by sharing the cost of connection to the gas network, so that project developers would not have to bear the cost alone.
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What’s next for Renewable Fuels in the USA?
If past is prologue, while the second Trump administration is expected to take a number of actions that could lead to increased volatility with respect to renewable identification number (“RIN”) prices just as the first did, there are signals that the administration may take a more deliberate approach this time to reduce shocks to the RIN market, all the more given the interest in supporting renewable fuel production as a domestic fuel source. And while the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) took steps last year that impact the ability of biogas projects to generate Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) credits, state legislative headwinds could eventually result in the opening of new environmental credit markets to shore up demand for renewable natural gas (“RNG”). Overall, while significant uncertainty and risk of RIN volatility remains, there continue to be signals from both the federal executive and legislative branches in support of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”).
Renewable gas industry urges EU to unblock imports
European gas sector trade association Eurogas, plus a coalition of over 50 global organisations, have called on the European Commission to urgently address barriers preventing the import of renewable gases into the EU. The restrictions that apply come under the Union Database for Biofuels (UDB), which is a regulation introduced under Europe’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). The UDB, introduced to trace sustainable gaseous fuels, currently recognises only EU-integrated grids. This means that sustainable biomethane and renewable gases from third-country, or non-EU, partners, including the UK, US, Ukraine and Canada, cannot be counted towards EU renewable energy targets. The coalition requests that the UDB must be workable in practice to ensure that it does not block crucial imports of renewable gas from third countries, especially at a time when energy security and decarbonization are so critical.
GD4S calls for accelerated development of green gas in Europe
At the first “Biomethane Connect Europe”, held in Paris, Gas Distributors for Sustainability (GD4S) stressed the need for a stable framework to develop biomethane in Europe. The Paris meeting organized by GD4S, an association of 11 gas operators in 9 EU countries, is a continuation of the REPowerEU plan. Launched in 2022, the plan set a production target of 35 billion m³ of biomethane by 2030. To structure an ambitious European strategy, GD4S has identified five priority areas for action: 1. Establish a stable regulatory framework; 2. Define differentiated national targets; 3. Stimulate investment and production; 4. Guarantee technological neutrality and 5. Ensure equitable accessibility.
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Let Green Gas Count
Following the withdrawal of guidance on the use of biomethane certificates in the GHG Protocol, more than 200 Companies and Associations globally call for clarity on the role of market instrument s for renewable gases in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The GHG Protocol is the world’s leading standard for measuring and managing greenhouse gas emissions. Widely used by businesses, governments, and organizations globally, it provides a framework for tracking, reporting and reducing emissions. Its influence shapes corporate climate strategies and drives accountability in emission reduction efforts. Renewable gases and their derivatives are necessary to decarbonize industry, transport and buildings. To facilitate their rapid deployment, a market-based approach is required to overcome any economic, technical and environmental barriers and inefficiencies arising from the requirement of a physical (local) connection. As the Corporate Standard of the GHG Protocol is being revised, the signatories urge its governance bodies to include such an approach in the Scope 1 inventory, for both fuel and feedstock applications.
Renewable Natural Gas Gets a Bipartisan Boost on Capitol Hill
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, and Rep. Linda Sánchez, a Democrat congresswoman from California, have joined forces with Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Mark Warner (D-VA) to introduce the Renewable Natural Gas Incentive Act of 2025 to help drive the transition to cleaner fuels. This renewable natural gas used or sold as fuel. The credit also would apply to certified blended RNG.