EUDP 2016 IEA Bioenergy Task 37 - Energy from Biogas

The main objective of the Task 37 work is to address the challenges related to the economic and environmental sustainability of biogas production and utilisation and to disseminate the results for the benefit of the Task 37 member-countries and of the biogas development in general. The growing biogas sector in OECD countries faces sustainability challenges and requires subsidies to be able to compete with the fossil energy industry. There is a clear need to optimise many of the process steps in the biogas production chain in order to reduce both investment and operating costs and to increase overall sustainability. The focus on process optimisation, started in 2010-2012, was intensified in the triennium 2013-2015. By the end of the 2013-2015 triennium there wereare more than 11,000 biogas installations in the Member Countries of Task 37.

IEA has played a significant role in the definition and promotion of best available biogas technologies that are in use on farms, in organic waste treatment facilities and on wastewater treatment sites. However, while there is substantial further potential for expansion of the AD sector, based on availability of potential feedstocks, challenges remain to maximise the potential benefits in terms of energy yield and to reduce both investment and operating costs. There is a well-understood need to reduce the reliance of biogas plants on subsidies such as investment grants, feed-in tariffs and green certificates. Other major objectives of the activity refer to providing technical biogas expertise to member countries, plant operators and policies and decision makers, and to exchange and disseminate the newest knowledge and research results among the member and non-member countries. The activity is carried out as a joint project of the participating countries, which in 2016 are: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK (membership undecided as of January 2016). The Danish participation in the IEA Bioenergy Task 37 offers a strong international network and expertise built up on behalf of the Danish biogas sector and biogas industry.

The project activities are concentrated on some specific topics, which for the triennium 2016-2018 are: substrates and reactor configurations, International approaches for local sustainable anaerobic digestion, Grid injection, smart grid, greening of the gas grid and local grids, Externalities, Best Practice Guidelines, Outreach, dissemination and support activities (workshops and seminars, success stories, website and newsletters).

The project results are disseminated through the project website www.iea-biogas.net, in the form of, inter alia, publications and technical reports as well as through regular task meetings, conferences, research workshops and study trips, newsletters and the members national networks.