Prioritise Biomethane Use for Buses and HGVs ADBA Biogas Biobus Transport

"Prioritising Biomethane for HGVs and Busses Within UK Clean Air Strategy say ADBA, Should be an Immediate UK Government Goal"

The UK government has just announced plans to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles from the UK.

This is going to bring into sharp focus the need for rapid development in many directions for transport, over the next 20 plus years, from the car technology we will drive, to the infrastructure for refuelling.

 Not least there will be an increased demand for renewable fuels. So, the news must be good for the biogas industry, and the bigger focus on renewable energy which it will bring. On this blog, we bring you a round-up on the news for biomethane in the light of this announcement.

Biomethane is created by biogas plants which have added equipment to "upgrade" their raw biogas to a purer quality and compress it.

When suitably upgraded it is often called CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and can then be used to power vehicles.

Biomethane is ideal for powering very low emission vehicles.

ADBA Urges Government to Prioritise Biomethane for HGVs & Busses

UK trade body, the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA), has called on the government to make the fuelling of busses and heavy goods vehicles by clean biomethane central to its Clean Air Strategy (i. e. Biomethane for HGVs).

 The organisation explained that biomethane is a low-carbon transport fuel produced by the anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic wastes to create a biogas which can then be upgraded to create a methane-based fuel. 

 According to ADBA, the UK AD industry already has sufficient capacity today to produce enough biomethane to power the UK’s entire bus fleet, and the use of biomethane for buses and HGVs has increased in recent years in response to concerns over the cost of fossil-fuel-based fuels and their negative impact on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. 

via ADBA Urges Government to Prioritise Biomethane for HGVs & Busses

Biofuels - Biomethane must be central to UK Clean Air Strategy says ADBA

Biomethane is a low-carbon transport fuel produced by anaerobic digestion (AD), a natural process that breaks down organic wastes and purpose-grown crops to create a biogas that can then be upgraded to create a methane-based fuel.

 The UK AD industry currently has sufficient capacity to produce enough biomethane to power the UK’s entire bus fleet (Biomethane for HGVs), and the use of biomethane for buses and HGVs has increased in recent years in response to concerns over the cost of fossil-fuel-based fuels and their negative impact on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, in May, Nottingham City

Transport’s unveiled a new £17 million double-deck ‘Bio-Gas’ bus fleet, the largest of its kind in the world. ADBA’s call to arms comes as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has today (26 July 2017) published its plan to deliver nitrogen dioxide compliance in UK towns and cities, part of a wider Clean Air Strategy due to be published in 2018.

The measures unveiled by DEFRA include £255 million of funding for local authorities to crack down on roadside emissions, including from busses and other types of public transport.

Local councils will be required to produce local air quality plans that reduce nitrogen dioxide levels in the fastest possible time, while local authorities will be able to bid for money from a new Clean Air Fund to support improvements that will reduce the need for restrictions on polluting vehicles. This could include upgrading bus fleets.

  The new measures announced also include the right for van drivers to use heavier vehicles if they are electric or gas-powered.

 “The use of biomethane derived from well-managed feedstocks as vehicular fuel can help to reduce the scandalous levels of air pollution we see in towns and cities across the UK, costing thousands of lives each year” 

said ADBA Chief Executive Charlotte Morton.

 “Local authorities reading the Government’s air quality plans now have the perfect opportunity to follow the example of Nottingham City Transport and others in rolling out biomethane-fuelled municipal bus fleets, which can make huge improvements to air quality in the UK’s towns and cities. 

Over the short to medium term, biomethane presents the only practical means of decarbonising HGVs, buses and non-road mobile machinery. 

 While biomethane has the potential to power every HGV in the country and some pioneers have grasped this opportunity, far more support is needed from government to make it easier for others to follow their example.

 It’s critical that the Government urgently delivers a robust response to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation consultation that concluded in January.

A biomethane (biogas) powered bus - Unfortunately, called the poo bus by many...

Long-term support for AD is crucial for reducing emissions from the difficult-to-decarbonise transport sector and for improving air quality in our cities and towns to save lives.”

 To reflect the growing interest in low-carbon fuels such as biomethane, ADBA will be hosting the third UK Biomethane and Gas Vehicle Conference on 28 September 2017 at the Queen’s Hotel in Leeds, bringing together transport, fuel infrastructure, freight, and logistics professionals and local authorities to share the benefits of biomethane and discuss what is required to stimulate and grow the market.

via Biomethane must be central to UK Clean Air Strategy say ADBA

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA ... which outlines steps to be taken to reduce emissions of Nitrogen Dioxide across the UK. Under the plan, local authorities are expected to deliver local proposals to clean up their air within their local areas.

Renewables

Also commenting on the government’s plan, James Court, head of policy and external affairs at the Renewable Energy Association, backed plans for increased use of renewables in the fuel mix. He said:

“The government can also take steps to reduce carbon emissions and urban pollution today by increasing the amount of renewable biofuels in the petrol mix. 

 “The UK’s renewable fuel industry supports over 10,000 jobs and has attracted more than a billion pounds of investment in the UK’s renewable fuel manufacturing infrastructure, and is critical during the transition towards an electrified fleet.”

Mr Court emphasised that electric vehicles will be an essential part of the future energy system that can;

“improve air quality, decarbonise transport and optimise the UK’s energy infrastructure”. 

But that we need government action to use renewable energy to power electric vehicles, and ensure a “genuinely decarbonised sector”.

via Renewable energy ‘has a role to play’ in Clean Air Plan

ADBA and REA have called on the government to increase the use of renewable biomethane to fuel vehicles, as part of efforts to tackle air pollution in the UK.

Yesterday (26 July), the government published a national plan for tackling roadside Nitrogen Dioxide concentrations as part of its upcoming Clean Air Strategy due in 2018.

The latest policy proposals aim to fight air pollution at a local level and include a commitment to end the sale of new diesel and petrol-only vehicles from 2040.

 Under the government’s plans, local authorities are expected to deliver plans to clean up their air within the next eight months.

The government is offering funding support for changes such as retrofitting and low emission bus technology. via AD biogas ‘can help air quality crisis’   

10 Easy Biomethane Lessons

Lesson 1. The Real Biomethane Definition

The definition of biomethane is quite a difficult one, because there are competing definitions. According to the general dictionaries dotted around the web, the term "biomethane" is interchangeable with the word "biogas".

However, in technical use among energy professionals and commentators, this is not correct. Biomethane is really a particular pure form of biogas, which is only produced after high quality further purification of raw biogas. This purification is usually referred to as "biogas upgrading", and this is performed in an "upgrader".

Lesson 2.  What is a Biogas Upgrader?

A biogas upgrader is a particular type of gas treatment unit that is used to concentrate the methane in biogas to natural gas standards (those being the high purity levels of "natural gas" as produced by capturing fossil fuel reserves). These upgrading treatment systems remove carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, water, and other contaminants found in tiny (trace) quantities, from the biogas, to meet standards for "natural gas" quality, as issued by the gas grid distribution companies.

One technique for doing this utilizes what is known as amine gas treating, to purify biogas to become biomethane.

To put it simply, it can be used interchangeably with natural gas in gas distribution grids.

Amine treating is not the only way to produce biomethane from biogas, and recently membranes have been developed which perform this function very efficiently.

Lesson 3. Cutting Through the Confusion which Surrounds Biomethane Use in Transport

At this point I can hear my readers saying: "Haven't I also read about biomethane buses as well as biogas powered engines, so what's the difference". To understand the nuances of meaning in the different uses of these words, a distinction must be drawn between basic treatment of raw biogas, which is needed, for example for use in a biogas combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant to run a gas-engine, and the more technologically advanced treatment needed to produce natural gas quality (biomethane).

Lesson 4. How Corrosion Problems Affect Raw Biogas Use

Suitably corrosion resistant gas-engines can be powered by untreated raw biogas, but put that biogas through a normal vehicle engine, and the life of the engine will suffer, hence both biogas and biomethane is used to fuel transport vehicles. But, the degree of ruggedisation needed for raw biogas use as a transport fuel is greater (and the engines are more costly), than the use of biomethane which is equivalent to using compressed natural gas CNG.

It is both environmentally preferable and economically justifiable to distribute this CNG made from biogas. Rather than using the term of CNG though, the energy industry is starting to use the term bio SNG, for biogas Synthetic Natural Gas. Bio SNG is best distributed together with natural gas in the existing gas grid.

Lesson 5. Injection of Accredited Quality Biomethane into Gas Grids

The production of renewable gas, at accredited biomethane quality, is injected into the nearest gas main, and paid for by the local gas supplier company. The biomethane price paid will vary according to the market and any green subsidies available locally. The large scale production of renewable biomethane now coming on-stream, is produced through anaerobic digestion (biogas), followed by methanation to create bio SNG, or by gasification.

Lesson 6. Biogas Treatment for Grid Injection

Biogas has, most of the time until now, been used directly in biogas cogeneration plants. This already requires desulphurisation and de-humidifying in order to avoid corrosion in the CHP.

However, to be able to feed biogas into the natural gas network, or use it as a transport fuel a more comprehensive method of treatment is necessary. Added to the need for drying and desulfurization, the carbon dioxide must be removed, and chemical conditioning undertaken to obtain gas quality properties which meet the specifications for natural gas.

This biomethane is more and more, being injected into the natural gas network, and converted to electricity and heat through a CHP unit. Efficiency of heat production is best served when the gas is burnt at a place close to where the thermal energy can be used. A good use would be, for example, in heating a swimming pool, as these have an almost constant year-round, and large, heat demand.

Lesson 7. Technological Advances in Gasification (A Competing technology for Gas Grid Injection)

We mentioned gasification technologies earlier and these are well established for conventional feedstocks for example, as coal and crude oil. The technology used in these processes has been advancing rapidly in recent years, producing a second generation of gasification technologies. These include gasification of, waste wood, forest and agricultural residues, energy crops and may also extend to black liquor.

Lesson 8. Syngas from Gasification

When gasification takes place the output is normally known as "syngas". Syngas undergoes further synthesis to create biomethane. This for example can take the form of, Fischer Tropsch products including the possible conversion of biomethane into diesel fuel, biomethanol, BioDME (dimethyl ether), or gasoline using catalytic conversion of dimethyl ether, or biomethane (Synthetic Natural Gas) (SNG). Syngas can also be used for heat production, and it is increasingly being used for generation of mechanical and electrical power using gas motors or gas turbines.

Lesson 9. Biomethane in America

We provide news here from NGVAmerica, which is a US national organization dedicated to:
… the development of a growing, profitable, and sustainable market for vehicles powered by natural gas or biomethane. NGVAmerica represents more than 200 companies, environmental groups, and government organizations interested in the promotion and use of natural gas and biomethane as transportation fuels. Our member companies are those that produce, distribute, and market natural gas and biomethane across the country; manufacture and service natural gas vehicles, engines, and equipment; and operate fleets powered by clean burning gaseous fuels."

Lesson 10. Biomethane in the UK

The UK has subsidies which are currently being been made available for biomethane upgrading under the (Renewable Heat Incentive RHI) and/ or for the "Renewable Heat Incentive" scheme, which has been on-sale since March 2011.

The UK government has just announced that the initial part is solely for non-domestic applications.
The key aspects are that:

"… the owner of the installation, or the producers of the biomethane for injection, are the people to whom the payments claimed are paid to, and payments will be made over a 20 year period".

Conclusion

By reading this article, and our 10 Lessons, you will have learnt a lot about "biomethane". We think that this will be a very useful knowledge for you to have, because biomethane production, with injection into the local natural gas supply grid, is here to stay. 

After-all how many other businesses create a product for which there is unlimited demand, and once connected into the gas grid needs no selling! Simply read the meter of the flow into the gas grid and charge the gas supply company!