Demand for biogas is growing in both industry and transport. Industry aims to reduce emissions by replacing fossil natural gas with biogas. In transport, heavy-duty vehicles have embraced biogas, as electricity will not be a serious option for longer journeys for some time.
In this article, Auris’s Biogas Business Manager Jani Hautaluoma explains the state and development of Finland’s biogas market.
Tenfold production in two years
Biomethane is rapidly replacing natural gas, and its share of gas production is growing faster than that of biogas. The vision is for Finland to produce four terawatt-hours of biogas in 2030, predominantly biomethane. Similar targets to increase production tenfold are widespread across the EU.
In 2022, biogas production was 730 gigawatt-hours and biomethane production 210 gigawatt-hours. Biogas contains 50–70% biomethane, with the remainder mainly carbon dioxide. Biomethane is chemically identical to natural gas.
Gas is the choice for heavy-duty transport
In future, gas-powered lorries and trucks will use both bio-LNG, or liquefied biogas, and compressed biogas. Bio-LNG use in heavy-duty transport is growing faster than electricity because of longer ranges and larger trucks. The number of trucks using compressed gas is growing thanks to more cost-effective technology and a more extensive distribution network.
The number of gas-powered trucks grew by 35% in January–June compared with the previous six-month period. At the beginning of November, 746 gas-powered trucks and 101 electric trucks were registered.
Logistics companies seeking to move away from fossil diesel cannot currently replace their fleets with biogas vehicles as quickly as they would like, because the bio-LNG distribution network is not expanding in line with demand. Bold investment is needed to extend gas filling networks along major routes.
Plenty of feedstock options for industrial biogas
Industry has been a major user of natural gas. Gas will still be needed, as not all processes can be electrified. Biogas enables companies to make a responsible transition to a lower-emission fuel.
Many gas-using industrial facilities are outside the fixed gas network. Large bio-LNG tanks are likely to be installed at these sites in future. Another option is local biogas production connected to a local gas network, making the gas available to industry.
A production plant’s own side stream often serves as biogas feedstock. This enables cost-effective gas production that can be smoothly integrated into the industrial plant’s processes.
Manure has considerable potential
Industrial and retail side streams and household biowaste are currently the main feedstocks for biogas production. Some municipal wastewater treatment sludge is also used.
The importance of agricultural side streams and manure is growing rapidly. They offer the greatest potential as Finland works towards its 2030 production target of four terawatt-hours.
The target is well grounded: Denmark, for example, produces seven terawatt-hours of biogas annually. Achieving it requires a radical improvement in Finland’s biogas investment support. Rules on the fuel distribution obligation must also be changed to favour responsible, low-emission, environmentally friendly biogas production.
Large projects meet growing demand
Major biogas plant projects under way are responding to rising demand. These include doubling capacity at Auris’s Mäntsälä plant and Suomen Lantakaasu’s projects in Kiuruvesi and Nurmo. Many smaller plants are also being built, with different distribution options being explored to bring their gas to major markets.
Farms can also deliver gas to biogas plants connected to the gas network, allowing it to be distributed directly through the network. This is a recommended approach in areas with many farms. Auris is planning injection into Mäntsälä’s local gas network and will pilot the service during 2025.
Finland’s gas network covers Southern and Eastern Finland from Imatra to Mäntsälä and on to Ikaalinen. Branch pipelines serve Helsinki, Kotka, Hamina, Porvoo, Lahti and Inkoo, among other locations. Pori, Tornio and Hamina have LNG terminals. Inkoo has an LNG terminal vessel and the Balticconnector gas pipeline from Paldiski in Estonia.
Terminals could become one biogas distribution route. For example, biogas can already be liquefied into bio-LNG at the Hamina terminal.
Verified sustainable production
Biogas certification is important when it is to be used in emissions trading. Biomethane produced at Auris Energy’s Mäntsälä plant is covered by the national sustainability scheme: the Energy Authority has approved the gas as sustainable biomethane. Our customers can use our gas either as part of the distribution obligation or in emissions trading. Biogas from our Mäntsälä plant, carrying a guarantee of origin and proof of sustainability, is injected into the gas network.
European biogas with a corresponding national guarantee of origin and proof of sustainability reaches Finland through Balticconnector. This link helps ease market pressure from demand for sustainable biogas. Wherever the gas comes from, the key is that increased biogas use reduces emissions and the burden on the climate.
A genuine circular economy
Biogas’s environmental benefits come through material circulation, making use of biowaste and bio-based side streams. When agricultural side streams and manure become the main feedstocks, gas production will yield slurry that makes excellent fertiliser for farms. Biogas production is therefore the circular economy in its truest form.
It can be viewed as one continuous service chain. A biogas plant provides responsible waste treatment, recycling biowaste from industry, retail, agriculture and municipalities. Value is recovered from the waste by producing gas.
The biomass remaining after gas production undergoes sanitisation to remove harmful substances. At this stage, it is a nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich biofertiliser that replaces chemical fertilisers used in agriculture. Farms that supply feedstock receive fertiliser on the return journey. Industry that supplies side streams receives biogas as an excellent energy source replacing fossil gas.
Bio-based fertilisers improve security of supply
Increasing the role of biofertilisers is particularly important as Finland needs to move away from Russian fertilisers and fertilisers made from Russian ammonia. Agriculture now has an excellent opportunity to adapt its production to use responsibly produced, domestic, low-emission fertilisers that do not support Russia’s war economy.
Biogas and the fertilisers resulting from its production strongly support security of supply in both energy and food production.
- Jani Hautaluoma, Biogas Business Manager, Auris Energy, jani.hautaluoma@aurisenergia.fi