#biogas

A consortium linked to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has built a plant at the Mannheim wastewater treatment plant that cleans generated biogas and uses the resulting CO2 to produce climate-neutral marine fuel using green hydrogen. The process could help decarbonise the shipping sector, which is currently responsible for around three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The demonstration plant uses a patented process to convert biogas produced during wastewater treatment into climate-neutral methanol. The biogas is first purified and the separated CO₂ can then be used with renewably-produced hydrogen to make methanol – a raw material that can be used as marine fuel or in the chemical industry. Methanol does release the CO2 back into the atmosphere when burned. However, because the carbon comes from the treatment plant and not from additional fossil sources, it is considered climate neutral.

There are some 80,000 wastewater treatment plants in Europe that offer considerable potential for the new process, wrote KIT. "To achieve our climate protection goals, we must keep all technological options open," said Volker Wissing, federal minister for digital affairs and transport. “In addition to electrification and hydrogen-based propulsion, we need climate-friendly fuels, especially in maritime shipping." Stressing that the sector represented a future growth market, Wissing said Germany should play a pioneering role in research and development. "It's also about making our country independent of energy imports."

Vidal Vazquez, co-founder of climate tech start-up ICODOS, a spin-off from the KIT, added, "In Germany alone, wastewater treatment plants could produce several million tonnes of sustainable methanol annually." The project shows that "wastewater treatment plants can serve as the heart of sustainable fuel production – a potential that has so far remained untapped," Vazquez said. ICODOS is currently in discussions with other wastewater treatment plants to set up other production facilities.

Renewables-based synthetic fuels could be necessary to decarbonise certain sectors such as shipping, where alternatives are not available today, or extremely costly. However, producing the rare fuels is energy-intensive and expensive and they should only be used where the direct use of electricity is not an option.

Self-sufficient organic Finnish farm grows its own fuel and a greener future

An award-winning farm has teamed up with Helsinki University to create a symbiotic food production system that is self-sufficient in energy and nutrients. It’s a trailblazer in sustainable agriculture.

Photo above: Farmer Markus Eerola shows visitors the biogas plant that helps make his farm an energy producer rather than an energy consumer.Photo: Wif Stenger

Organic Knehtilä Farm provides its own nutrients and energy, thanks to careful long-term planning and a small onsite biogas plant operated by energy utility Nivos.

The biogas powers his tractor, pickup truck and cars, and is available to others at a commercial filling station on the edge of the farm, although vehicles that can use biogas are still relatively rare. It offers a valuable alternative to meet the growing need for affordable, clean domestic energy.

Demand for organic food continues to grow. “The price gap between organic and standard production is narrowing, partly because we don’t need fertiliser. Our farm has its own product line of oat and buckwheat products, which are produced here using a proven cultivation method known as agroecological symbiosis, where nutrients and energy are efficiently recycled.”

The sprawling 380-hectare farm’s carefully balanced circular economy has developed over a decade and a half, earning a WWF award in 2015 as a model of nature-friendly agriculture. In 2021, the Finnish Organic Association chose Knehtilä for the honour of Organic Business of the Year.

“Biogas production can convert farms from being energy consumers to energy producers, and play an important role in the transition away from fossil fuels. When it’s done in a smart way, it’s also possible to increase biodiversity in farming systems.”

Knehtilä forms part of the Global Network of Lighthouse Farms, a project led by Wageningen University in the Netherlands, involving commercially viable farms that offer “radical solutions to address sustainability challenges.” International visitors frequently come to Knehtilä to learn about unique system.

MyGug provides a technology that focuses on small food businesses that grow their own food, providing them with a food waste disposal system that turns waste into biogas energy for cooking that can be used in kitchens and gardens.

The egg-shaped MyGug units harness the power of a natural process called anaerobic digestion in which food waste is broken down to produce a natural gas suitable for cooking and liquid fertiliser for growing.

Headquartered in Clonakilty, Co Cork, MyGug was founded in 2021 by Fiona Kelleher and Kieran Coffey. The company works with the ambition to change the face of food waste. 

The central gathering point is a common area with an outdoor stage and benches like a campground and a longhouse that is a multipurpose structure. A section partitioned for equipment storage for well drilling, dirt road maintenance, scaffolding, timber sawmill, etc. A workshop of various disciplines to build whatever is needed and teach new skills. And finally a kitchen for community events.

Surrounding this common agora would be driveways to individual homesteads. The architectural designs focusing on using the renewable resources of the forest. Log cabins, timber frame, and A-frame homes of various sizes plus whatever barns, chicken coops, sheds, and greenhouses are required for each home. These all use related wood working techniques so each member's accumulated experience can help in the next project.

The idea is for the whole community to be gridless with individual power setups based on the terrain around the homes, meaning solar, hydro, biogas digester, etc. The longhouse gets two power systems, one either hydro or solar, with a woodgas generator backup. The land immediately surrounding each home should be gardens and livestock shifting into native forests. Silviculture would be a community effort with constant renewal of the forest and supporting wildlife.