BSRC

Our Research Areas

A sustainable society requires the presence of biogas solutions, and the Nordic model for biogas addresses challenging waste problems while providing us with renewable nutrients, energy, and raw materials. Cities, rural areas, regions, and corporate value chains all have needs for the products and services of biogas. Our research focuses on the conditions for and societal impacts of biogas, production systems, biogas processes, as well as market and utilization of the solutions' products.

Societal Conditions and Strategies
The Production System
Digestion Processes
Usage and Market
Sustainability Effects

Societal Conditions and Strategies

No communities or states have fully realized the potential of biogas solutions, indicating a challenging task. Within Europe, most biogas plants are located in Germany, where policy initially emphasized and supported the production of renewable electricity. Crops were the primary substrate. Nowadays, Germany and most of Europe are moving towards the Nordic model for biogas, which instead relies on waste and residual products as substrates and upgrading to biomethane primarily used for transportation or injected into the gas grid, often used in industry.

Municipalities and regions have long been key actors in developing biogas solutions, as they have sometimes succeeded in integrating various policy areas and identified the collective benefits of biogas solutions. Several of them have been strategically working for a long time, based on cooperation and goal-setting. At the national level, there are examples of countries that have introduced long-term economic conditions for biogas production. In addition to Germany, this applies to Denmark and the Czech Republic, where biogas production has increased rapidly. In Sweden, there has long been tax exemption for biogas and the possibility of investment support. Since 2022, this has been supplemented with support linked to methane reduction, upgrading to biomethane, and liquefying gas.

The EU aims to rapidly increase the production of biomethane and has stated a goal of 350 TWh per year by 2030. Member states will need to develop their own strategies involving local and regional actors as well as companies to collectively achieve this goal.

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The Production System

In Sweden, we have been producing approximately 2 TWh of biogas per year for many years from sewage treatment plants, co-digestion facilities, and industrial plants. The expected significant growth is primarily anticipated to occur from larger co-digestion facilities and, to some extent, farm facilities, while sewage treatment plants and industrial facilities are expected to grow slowly. Now there is a proposal for a national target of 7 TWh per year from anaerobic digestion by 2030, with a long list of projects under construction. Many of these projects are based on the digestion of manure along with other agricultural by-products and residues. To become truly efficient, these facilities also need other substrates such as household food waste and food supply chain by-products. Biogas plants also have a potentially significant role to play in the redistribution of plant nutrients, which are often in excess in some areas while scarce in others.

The development primarily points towards larger, more standardized, and industrialized biogas plants. Consequently, localization and logistics become crucial aspects of a sustainable production system. Much of the additional production will take place in rural areas where there is ample manure and demand for the digested biofertilizer. Gas will increasingly be liquefied or injected into the gas grid to reduce dependency solely on local demand. Infrastructure for transporting raw gas from multiple digestion facilities to centralized upgrading and liquefaction of biogas could be a solution to reduce the extensive transports occurring around a biogas plant. Alongside this development, the number of farm-based facilities producing electricity and heat while utilizing their plant nutrients is also growing. These can be a viable alternative where it's not feasible to establish larger facilities.

To further increase biogas production in the future, land use in agriculture needs to be intensified sustainably. There are ample opportunities to produce much more biomass than today, for example, through increased intercropping and fodder grass, cultivation. What is harvested from the forage can also be fractionated, divided into a more concentrated protein part for fodder while the remainder serves as excellent biogas substrate. In this way, together with the cultivation of cover crops and more, the farming system can simultaneously become more sustainable and contribute to a significantly increased biogas production.

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Digestion Processes

The objectives of digestion processes can vary, but for most stakeholders, methane gas production is the primary focus since it usually accounts for a significant portion of a plant's revenue. Thus, much of the research and development in this area are geared towards extracting more gas from the substrate used through faster and more complete degradation. The conversion of organic material into the energy-containing methane molecule involves a wide range of process steps that involve various groups of microorganisms constituting a complete microbial community. A key factor for successful and stable biogas production is a good mixture of different substrates in co-digestion. With such a varied menu, the risk of essential nutrient shortages for the processes decreases. Depending on the available substrates, different problems may arise. For example, overly nitrogen-rich substrates may inhibit biogas production and can be advantageously mixed with nitrogen-poor ones. The formation of hydrogen sulfide also inhibits biogas production, and in Sweden, iron compounds are therefore added to the digestion process.

In Sweden, so-called wet digestion dominates, using substrates that can be pumped into the reactor. Research investigates various modifications to production in the form of different pre- and post-treatments, trace element additives, agitation, but also new production concepts involving multi-stage digestion and recirculation, among others. Digestion of drier substrates (high-density digestion) can be an interesting complement to wet digestion, especially since substrates such as solid manure and garden waste can be used. Another advantage is that not all substrates are mixed, but the new substrate is fed into one end and travels through a horizontal cylinder. This way, different conditions can be created to optimally meet the needs of different groups of organisms.

Parts of the available substrates are not completely broken down in the digestion processes. An important such group of substrates is woody and contains a lot of lignocellulose. Progress in this area could make new substrates available, such as straw and reed. Some proteins may also remain in the material that has passed through the digestion chamber. Post-digestion can contribute to increasing efficiency.

In research, it is important not to solely focus on gas production, but also to ensure the production of useful digestate that is in demand. From the digestion processes, it is possible to produce more than just methane. By controlling environmental factors, organic acids, for example, can be formed, which can serve as a basis for chemical products. Another potential future product could be generated by harvesting microorganisms and using them in feed production (single-cell protein).

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Waste Management

In Sweden, the biogas sector has primarily developed as a waste service (including sewage), which for some stakeholders remains an important source of revenue.

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Renewable Energy

Subsequently, the economic significance of renewable gas has increased, especially for those who upgrade the gas to biomethane, which is injected into the gas grid or used for transportation.

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Renewable Plant Nutrition

There are still no biogas producers for whom biogas digestate constitutes a significant source of revenue. It has many advantages but is diluted, and the economics only withstand shorter transports.

Usage and Market

The presence of various actors and the development of market functions for biogas is a dynamic area. In Sweden, much of the development was initially driven by municipally-owned companies, but today, many privately-owned businesses have entered various parts of the biogas supply chains. The development of a "biogas market" is a complex process involving activities of many different actors over a long period. In Sweden, municipalities have been a key player and have provided many of the functions required to develop the market.

Liquid biogas has become an important product because it is energy-dense, allowing for longer transportation distances. This reduces dependence on gas grids and local demand. A consequence of this development is that the gas becomes an international commodity. Another consequence is the opportunity to use it in heavy vehicles where performance and range are similar to diesel, leading to rapidly increasing demand for so-called LBG or Bio-LNG.

Various forms of refinement, through the separation of biogas digestate into different fractions, are being developed to make it more useful as a product and increase its value. This business is sometimes driven by biogas producers and sometimes by specialized biogas fertilizer companies. The need for renewable plant nutrition is significant, especially for organic farming. Other products can be developed from biogas solutions. The most immediate one is carbon dioxide, which is separated during upgrading but usually released. There are now facilities capturing carbon dioxide and converting it into a product that can replace fossil-originated carbon dioxide.

The Nordic model for biogas, with waste as a substrate, upgrading to biomethane, and utilization of biogas digestate, has been developed embedded in the Nordic countries but is globally relevant. The dissemination of knowledge, technology, and the ability to implement biogas solutions can be highly beneficial as waste problems and local environmental quality issues are significant worldwide.

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Sustainability Effects

The products and services of biogas solutions give rise to various societal effects, and due to their multifunctionality, they often have a broader and more positive footprint than alternatives. When evaluated against broader frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Sweden's environmental objectives, or extensive multi-criteria analyses, biogas solutions tend to perform particularly well. A label like "the decathlon athlete sustainability" comes to mind. Additionally, biogas is the only fuel with the potential to contribute to so-called negative emissions, explained by the avoidance of emissions from manure and organic waste. Capture and utilization of carbon dioxide can further contribute. However, there are many other alternative fuels that also have good climate performance. If the perspective is broadened beyond climate, the positive effects of biogas solutions will emerge through improved sanitation, better local environment, supply of renewable plant nutrition, strengthened food and energy security, improved sustainability performance for industrial products produced from biogas, and more.

A continuing challenge is to translate knowledge of the societal effects of biogas solutions into how they can contribute to the fulfillment of goals and strategies for private and public organizations, such as climate, sustainability, and circular economy goals, where biogas solutions are often lacking and their potential is not fully utilized.

Biogas solutions can also play a role in the development of a sustainable and resilient energy system by increasing the opportunities for so-called sector coupling. If the systems for gas, electricity, and heat are interconnected and conversions between them can occur, the opportunities for system gains related to moving and storing energy increase. Such coupling involves utilizing surplus electricity for hydrogen production, which is then used for methanation of carbon dioxide to produce biomethane.

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