Spain Approves Biogas Roadmap, Focused on Mobility and Industry

(MITECO/NGV Journal) The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), has approved the Biogas Roadmap, which identifies the challenges and opportunities for the development of this renewable gas and proposes multiplying by 3.8 its production by 2030, exceeding 10.4 TWh. Focused on the recovery of waste (agricultural, agri-food industries, municipal and sewage sludge), it will promote the use of biogas in two main ways: the production of electricity and useful heat –especially for industry–, and its use as a sustainable biofuel in mobility. A ministerial order is pending to distribute aid for 150 million euros.

The development of biogas, particularly important in the current European context, will prevent the emission into the atmosphere of approximately 2.1 million tons of CO2 equivalent per year. It will also serve to reduce energy dependence and strengthen the circular economy, while fixing the rural population, thanks to the growth of its extensive business value chain.

The use in transport will facilitate meeting the objective of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030, of reaching a share of renewable energy of 28% by 2030, as well as the European milestones of penetration of advanced biofuels, which must reach 3.5% of the total that same year.

To boost the biogas market, the Roadmap includes 45 specific measures in five lines of action:

1. Regulatory instruments. They establish the creation of a guarantee of origin system, similar to that of renewable electricity, so that consumers can distinguish biogas from conventional fossil gas, valuing its renewable origin; a royal decree in process contemplates said system. They also include the streamlining and standardization of administrative procedures and the improvement of regulations on waste, to facilitate obtaining renewable gas and the subsequent use of the resulting digestate after the anaerobic process, mainly as fertilizer.

2. Sectoral instruments. They highlight the possibility of establishing annual objectives of penetration in the sale or consumption of biogas, with obligatory quotas. In addition, they propose to promote its production in areas with abundant raw material –where there are livestock farms, agri-food industry or waste treatment plants–, together with measures to promote consumption in situ, in vehicle fleets, in thermal uses, in the production of hydrogen, and the substitution in general of gas of fossil origin, whenever it is economically viable.

3. Economic instruments. They allocate existing aid lines to fund innovation and technological development of biogas and take advantage of the boost that the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), which includes aid for biogas, can provide to the sector.

4. Transversal instruments. They will prioritize biogas projects in fair transition zones, introduce it in public contract documents, publicize its advantages, create energy communities and work groups to facilitate its implementation.

5. Promotion of R&D&i. The initiative will support the research to reduce polluting gas emissions, promote projects to demonstrate the use of biogas in industry, and encourage innovation in less mature technologies, among others.

Gases of renewable origin are part of the solution to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and contribute to the achievement of the emission reduction and renewable energy penetration goals proposed for Spain by 2030. Likewise, the deployment of biogas presents numerous environmental benefits and allows to create synergies with local industries through its use in locations close to its production. READ MORE