Controversy over the Role Biomethane Will Play in Cleaning up Transport

by Daryl Worthington (Bioenergy Insight) ... Titled CNG and LNG for vehicles and ships – the facts, the study “compiles the latest evidence on the environmental impacts of using gas a transport fuel”.

Transport and Environment (T&E) is a European umbrella for NGOs working in the transport and environment fields, aiming to promote sustainable transport in Europe. A key claim of the latest report is that using natural gas for transport is as bad for the climate as using petrol, diesel or conventional marine fuels.

Acknowledging that both biomethane and power-to-methane can have significantly lower GHG emissions than fossil gas, the study questions the potential biomethane has to play in decarbonising transport. Specifically, it says the amount of sustainable feedstocks for biomethane in the form of wastes and residues are limited and cannot be sustainably scaled.

“Even if we assume the maximum sustainable potential is produced and all of it is allocated to transport - this is very unlikely to happen - biomethane could only cover 6.2- 9.5% of transport’s energy needs,” the study states.

The T&E report also notes that power-to-methane is ‘inefficient and expensive to produce.’

“A wider shift to methane will almost certainly lead to a transport sector powered by fossil gas, not renewable methane.”

The trade association for Europe’s biogas industry, the European Biogas Association (EBA), has responded to the conclusions of T&E’s study, arguing that the potential of biomethane estimated is based on a limited set of feedstock.

“EBA considers the Gas for Climate study carried out by ECOFYS more realistic as it includes a bottom-up assessment of agricultural and forestry residues available in the EU, derived from Eurostat data and EU-wide biomass potential studies issued by the European Commission,” Susanna Pfluger, Secretary General of EBA, told Bioenergy Insight.

“ECOFYS has also thoroughly consulted farmers and industry who are key to the development of green gas while complying fully with the EU’s sustainability policy.”

Pfluger suggests that the T&E report overlooks the broader benefits possible from the production of biogas.

“Sequential cropping for example can play an important role providing sustainable and low-ILUC risk feedstock. This is completely underestimated by T&E,” the EBA Secretary General continued.

“T&E’s report is however right when saying that it is not clear in which energy sectors biomethane will be used. We estimate that around 9bcm (billion cubic metres) biomethane would be used in the transport sector in 2030. This would be around 30% of all gas used in transport,” Pfluger continued.

“It would be certainly interesting to hear how T&E estimates the costs and potential of full electrification (based on renewable energy sources) of the transport sector. READ MORE