Abstract
The article presents the results of a survey carried out in the European Union (EU) regarding the production and use of biogas from different sources. The EU is a world leader in the field of biogas, with a production of 10,085.8 ktoe y-1 (in 2011) in terms of primary energy, accounting for about 60% of the world's production. Germany is the EU country that has made the greatest progress in this field with a production of as much as 5,067.6 ktoe y-1, of which a share of 4,414.2 ktoe y-1 results from anaerobic digestion (and co-digestion) processes of selected organic matrices. UK is the second largest producer with 1,764.8 ktoe y-1, determined for 84% by landfill biogas and the remainder by biogas produced in sewage treatment plants (sludge digestion). Italy (1,095.7 ktoe y-1) and France (349.6 ktoe y-1) follow in the list of the largest producers. The trend of biogas production, in accordance with the action lines of the EU, is characterized by a progressive increase from anaerobic digestion (and co-digestion) of selected organic matrices and a progressive decrease from landfills. Production in 2020 is estimated at 28.0 Mtoe y-1 in accordance with the EU Renewable Energy National Plans. The uses of biogas are mainly directed to the production of electricity and heat. There are, however, several cases of conversion of biogas into biomethane injected into the natural gas grids or used as biofuel in vehicles. In this last direction, worthy of note are a few north-central EU countries which have implemented an effective policy to promote the use of biomethane for public and private transport.
Highlights
Biogas is a renewable source of energy, whose consumption amounts to 19% of global energy consumption (REN21, 2013)
The largest renewable energy consumption is given by the traditional biomass (9.3% of the total consumption of renewable energy), while the share of biofuels in the energy market is still limited to 0.8%
In 2012, this production amounted to 17,200 ktoe y-1: about 60% is given by Europe, while the contribution of North America is limited to approximately 22.0%
Summary
Biogas is a renewable source of energy, whose consumption amounts to 19% (at 2011) of global energy consumption (REN21, 2013). The share of biogas amounts to 17.2 Mtoe y-1, which corresponds to about 0.25% of the global energy market Despite this small market share, since 2000 the EU policies in support of renewable energy have promoted and developed programs and strategies to implement the production of biofuels (European Commission, 2000; 2011a; 2011b; Commission of the EU, 2007) issuing specific directives (EU Parliament, 2001; 2003; 2009). The production of bioethanol could be hardly increased because the EU strategy is focused on the conversion of ligno-cellulosic biomass, with rather complex chemical-biological processes. In any case, these processes will not be cost-competitive with bioethanol from sugar cane produced in large quantities in Brazil. Oriented to the implementation of anaerobic digestion plants of selected organic matrices and can be considered an important aspect of the modern EU policy for waste disposal
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
