|
Biomethane
The
resource from biogas
Reducing
greenhouse gases, improving waste management, preserving
the quality of soil and groundwater and creating jobs,
biomethane contributes to the development of a circular
economy where waste becomes a renewable resource.
|
|
|
Produced from waste from the food industry, catering, agricultural
and household waste, biomethane is a clean biogas that fully
respects the properties of natural gas.
The
digestion of these organic materials produces biogas that
can be recovered by combustion in the form of heat and / or
electricity. This biogas can be purified to achieve the quality
of natural gas. It is then called "biomethane". Once purified
and odorized, it can be injected into gas networks. His jobs
are multiple: heating, electricity, fuel ... The production
of biogas generates a residue called digestate.
Natural organic fertilizer, it is spread on agricultural land
and thus replaces mineral fertilizers of fossil origin.
fossile.
Biomethane obtained from biogas can be used in four sectors:
- Thermal recovery
La The combustion heat
of the biomethane can be used for the production of hot
water, steam at medium or high pressure, or in process furnaces.
The pressure required for the supply of gas appliances is
generally low: 20 to 100 mbar. In general, thermal valuations
require local outlets: they may be consumers outside the
production site (industries, heat network, etc.) or internal
uses.
On the treatment plants, a portion of the biogas produced
is generally used to maintain the digester at the fermentation
temperature (37 or 55 ° C). This internal process consumption
represents about 15 to 30% of the production..
- Electric recovery (with or without cogeneration)
Nearly
7 Nm3/year of biomethane produced by a population equivalent.
After cogeneration biomethane production is obtained approximately
12.6 kWh/year/EH heat and 15,4 kWh/year/EH electricity.
- Biomethane injection into the natural
gas network
Annuall
production of biogas fed into the grid is estimated e to
about 3.5 Nm3/year for 1 EH (it is estimated that biomethane
production correspond to 50% of the volume of biogaz producted
and 75% of PCS biogas producted). The production of biomethane
is equivalent to approx 35 kWh/year /EH PCS.
- Biofuel
Quite widespread in Sweden, the valorization of biomethane
in the form of automotive fuel is the subject in France
of a few pilot plants currently being optimized: Lille,
Sonzay (near Tours), Chambéry. For the moment, it is intended
for the feeding of captive fleets of local authority vehicles:
garbage collection, public transport; its interest is both
economic and environmental, given the quality of gas engine
emissions.
Biomethane: ecological and economic opportunities
Among the renewable energies, anaerobic digestion undoubtedly meets
the requirements of a sustainable development: it valorizes
the waste by the production of energy and non-polluting nutrients,
contributes to the development of the agricultural territories,
participates in the fight against greenhouse gases, created
a chain of innovative companies.
Biomethane: balancing our gas supply
Ademe estimates that by 2030, 20% of the total supply of gas will
come from anaerobic digestion. Biomethane, resulting from
the purification of biogas, can already be directly injected
into the gas distribution networks. It thus strongly contributes
to the reduction of the French energy dependence by limiting
the import requirements of natural gas.
Biomethane: the valorization in green fuel
Biomethane is also a green fuel that is now fueling public transit
and will fuel road transport tomorrow. An ambitious project
to network French territory with biomethane stations is under
development which will offer road hauliers a real alternative
of supply.
This sector thus offers many opportunities for various sectors of
activity provided the risks inherent in this new market are
under control.
Le Biomethane: recovery in bio-hydrogen
Currently,
with the scheduled end of the "Diesel" deemed polluting, a
transitional phase is launched with the "electric" and "hybrid"
vehicles for which quickly the batteries will pose an environmental
problem (construction and recycling).
An emerging market is hydrogen for fuel cell.
The
fuel cell (PAC) uses hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) to generate
electricity and heat by emitting only water.
It is clear that for this application of hydrogen, it must
be produced without fossil CO2 emissions and distributed at
an attractive selling price.
This hydrogen can be produced from many sources of primary
energy,
- either
by electrolysis
- by
reforming
In
both cases, its cost depends greatly on the size of the production
facility and the cost of the primary energy used. Renewable
energies (produced without fossil CO2 emissions) the cheapest
are currently biogas and electricity from hydropower.
2010
market study
Biomethane
figures 2013: :
Nombre Number
of projects in development:
· More than 360 projects
at the end of 2013
Average time of
completion of the projects:
· 3 to 5 years
Turnover 2012:
· 290 million euros
Number of jobs
mobilized in 2013:
· More than 1,700
direct jobs identified in 2013, of which one third on
biogas plants
Purchase tariff
for electricity produced from biogas 2013:
· Between 11.19 and
19.97 cent. € /kWh depending on size, energy efficiency
and materials treated for sites other than storage facilities
of Non Hazardous Wastes (ISDND)
· Between 8,121 and
9,765 cent. € /kWh for ISDND's according to size
Cost of an anaerobic
digestion plant:
· Very variable
from one to the other; estimated between € 6,000 and
€ 10,000 per installed kW
Amount of grants
from the Waste Fund and Heat Fund allocated for biogas
production in 2013:
· Around 33.6 million
euros
Total Terawatt/hours
produced:
· Around 2.3 TWh/year
of final energy produced
National biogas
production:
· In 2012, France
was the 4th largest biogas producer in Europe producing
450 ktep of primary energy.
Source :
http://www.bioenergie-promotion.fr/
The
biomethane adventure in 2030
Whether at European or national level, the ambition concerning
anaerobic digestion is strong and the objectives are high.
The Ademe, for its part, advance that 30 Th / h of biomethane
could be injected into the network by 1,400 installations
by 2030. This represents the energy needed to heat 2,500,000
homes and power 55,000 buses or trucks.
GRDF, for its part, evaluates the biomethane injected at 0.2
TWH / year today. at 2030, it would increase to 30 TWh / year,
an increase of 15,000% !!!!
In 2030, 10% of the annual gas consumption in France comes
from biomethane.
Production costs of biomethane
A biomethane cost
price higher than the purchase price of natural gas
The
cost of biogas and biomethane is difficult to evaluate because
it depends on the resource used and the size of the facilities.
The cost of investments is much higher in France than in Germany.
In large plants, the cost of producing biogas from biogas
would be between 6 cents/kWh (cents) from waste and 8.5 cents/kWh
from crops.
In small plants, the cost price rises to 15 cents/kWh from
manure and 21 cents/kWh from crops.
With a price of natural gas at about 2.5 cents/kWh at the
wholesale stage and 4.5-5 cents/kWh at the private individual,
it is essential to compensate for the cost difference between
methane d fossil origin and biomethane to incorporate it into
the network.
For the production of electricity, such a compensation mechanism
already exists.
The fixed tariffs are however not sufficient for the projects
to be profitable without subsidy.
A similar mechanism will also be needed for grid injection
and for carburetion, with a gap to be bridged by the same
order of magnitude as that between 1st generation biofuels
and fossil fuels.
However, a fuel-based biomethane production project should,
in principle, be more cost-effective than a project using
energy crops.
The following table summarizes the most important parameters
of the described technologies applied to a raw biogas of medium
composition.
The value of some parameters represents an average from the
bibliography or existing installations. Prices quoted are
those of March 2014..
|
Settings
|
Water
washing
|
Organic
solvent washing
|
Amine
washing
|
PSA
technology
|
Membrane
technology
|
| Methane content [vol%] |
95,0
- 99,0
|
95,0
- 99,0
|
>
99,0
|
95,0
- 99,0
|
95,0
- 99,0
|
| Methane
recovery rate [%] |
98,0
|
96,0
|
99,96
|
98
|
80 -
99,5
|
| Methane loss
[%] |
2,0
|
4,0
|
0,04
|
2,0
|
20 -
0,5
|
| Output pressure
[bar(g))] |
4 -
8
|
4 -
8
|
°
|
4 -
7
|
4 - 7
|
| Electricity
requirements [kWh/m3 of biomethane] |
0,46
|
0,49 - 0,67
|
0,27
|
0,46
|
0,25
- 0,43
|
| Besoin en chauffage et température de consigne |
-
|
70 -
80·C
|
120
- 160·C
|
-
|
-
|
| Desulfurization
required |
Process
dependent
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Consumables
needs |
Decongestion
agent,
Drying agent
|
Organic
solvent (hazardous)
|
Amine
solution (dangerous, corrosive)
|
Charcoal
(hazardous, fire hazard)
|
-
|
| Partial
load rate [%] |
50 -
100
|
50 -
100
|
50 -
100
|
85 -115
|
50 -105
|
| Number
of reference installations |
important
|
Low
|
Way
|
Important
|
Low
|
|
Costs
investment
[€/(m3/h) biomethane]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
for
100
m3/h
|
10 100
|
9 500
|
9
500
|
10
400
|
7
300 - 7 600
|
|
for
250 m3/h
|
5
500
|
5
000
|
5
000
|
5 400
|
4 700 - 4 900
|
|
for 500 m3/h
|
3 500
|
3 500
|
3 500
|
3 700
|
3
500 - 3 700
|
|
Costs operating
[cent.€/m3 biomethane]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
for
100 m3/h
|
15,4
|
15,2
|
15,8
|
16,4
|
11,9 - 17,4
|
|
for
250 m3/h
|
11,4
|
11,2
|
13,2
|
11,1
|
8,5 - 12,8
|
|
for 500 m3/h
|
10,1
|
9,9
|
12,3
|
10,2
|
7,2 - 11,1
|
Return
|
Valorisation
