Plant residues, slurry, manure, under-eaters and other biological waste are a valuable source of energy, which many Czech farmers are already aware of and process in their own biogas plant. However, according to Martin Schwarz, an expert from CZ Biom – the Czech Biomass Association, the potential of biogas plants is much greater than their current use. Instead of cogeneration of electricity with low heat utilization, they could produce biomethane, which the Czech Republic will urgently need to meet its goals in the field of decarbonization of industry and the transition to renewable energy sources.

There are currently about 550 biogas plants in the Czech Republic. How many of them can produce biomethane?

Any of them can produce biomethane, technically it is not complicated. But most of them don't. The state has not set up such an economic and legal environment to make biomethane production worthwhile. Under the current conditions, it is more advantageous to produce electricity in biogas plants.

Why should these plants switch to biomethane production at all?

From the operators' point of view, it doesn't make sense yet. They are entrepreneurs and understandably behave in such a way that the money invested brings them profit. But it is a question that should be addressed by the state. In its strategies and concepts, it must decide whether it wants biogas plants to supply electricity or to produce biomethane to replace fossil natural gas. Both options may be correct. The point now is that all Member States of the European Union must implement the objectives of the European Directive RED III into their legal framework (Renewable Energy Directive). And the Czech Republic cannot meet these commitments unless it massively increases the production and consumption of biomethane. This is the easiest way for us to achieve Europe's goals without costing us too much money. Because we have already built biogas plants, we have already invested in them. But we mostly produce electricity in them, in base load mode (continuous supply 24/7 - ed.) and with low heat utilization, which is not very efficient.

What makes it ineffective?

Electricity can be obtained much more cheaply from other renewable sources, such as wind or solar power plants. Electricity produced from biogas, on the other hand, is unnecessarily expensive. The processing of the input material generates 40 percent of electricity and 60 percent of heat. Unfortunately, most of this heat is lost, because biogas plants are usually located somewhere between fields where there is not enough use for thermal energy. Part of it is used to heat stables or offices, but a large amount is wasted. Therefore, it would be much more efficient to store this energy in biomethane, which can be used in other industries and especially in the place and time when we need it most. The biomethane plant produces energy from waste and residues continuously throughout the year. The gas is stored in underground storage facilities together with natural gas, and then this energy can be consumed during the winter heating season.

The Wero investment group, with which you cooperate as an expert advisor, has decided to invest in Slovak biogas plants. Why not the Czech ones?

In Slovakia, the situation was better for investors, because biogas plants could be purchased cheaper, so the return on investment was more advantageous. Slovakia is one of the few countries that have not met the objectives of the European directive and have not implemented them into their national legislation, so the European Commission has initiated proceedings against them for non-compliance with these obligations. However, the Slovaks have understood that biomethane is the fastest and easiest way to reduce emissions in transport and heating. They focused on their energy resilience and are now trying to exploit the potential they have in their biogas plants.

The Czech Republic, on the other hand, has met the requirements of the European directive and has written the required goals into its plans, but in practice the actual steps are lagging behind. It remained only on paper. That is why a number of very interesting large investments are now going outside the Czech Republic, and only when we work it off and create a suitable environment here will these investments start to make sense in our country.

What is the situation in other European countries?

In terms of biomethane production, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark are the best. These are countries that already cover half of their total natural gas consumption with biomethane.

What should change in the Czech Republic to make biomethane production make sense here?

There are two ways to do this. Either the state decides on the so-called blending obligation, which means that it sets a mandatory share of biomethane in natural gas consumption, or it starts to motivate producers through operating support. Very often, Member States apply both methods at the same time using the carrot and stick method.

What option did the countries you mentioned as biomethane pioneers choose?

They chose the mandatory share of biomethane in total consumption because they did not want to burden the state budget with operating support for producers. This forced gas suppliers to buy more expensive gas from renewable sources, and they in turn reflected the increased costs in the price of gas, so that consumers pay the difference as a result. But it is a negligible amount. If we applied this model to the Czech environment, the increase in prices for the end customer would be in the order of units of hellers per kilowatt of gas, so the annual bills of households or industrial customers would increase by a few units or lower tens of crowns.

What are the uses and potential of biomethane?

The production potential could be at the level of ten percent of our total natural gas consumption. We would be able to produce about a ten percent share from available raw materials in the Czech Republic.

But you are talking about raw materials that are not grown specifically for biogas plants.

Yes, otherwise it would not be sustainable biomethane, because targeted cultivation of corn, for example, has an additional carbon footprint. If we are really talking about a green energy source, then it is biomethane made from the processing of waste materials such as slurry, manure, non-harvest or crop residues. These are raw materials that a farmer – if he does not have a biogas plant – usually leaves somewhere in a pile, from which greenhouse gases are released into the air. And after a few years, it will plough them up. Thanks to the processing of this material in a biogas plant, the environment is protected from gases that would otherwise escape into the air. Instead of harming, they are used meaningfully.

How far are we currently from the mentioned ten percent share?

In the Czech Republic, we are at about 0.3 percent, biomethane is produced by about ten plants. Investors who saw the sense in it and did it before the conditions were right. But biomethane produced in our country is not consumed in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. It is sold abroad, where there is already such a legal framework set up to motivate all stakeholders.

How does it get there?

Quite simply, we have the infrastructure to do it. Gas can be injected into the network in Slovakia and sold to Finland, for example. The Slovak gas supplier is not obliged to have a certain proportion of biomethane, so it will not offer a good purchase price for it, but companies in Denmark, Italy, Germany or Switzerland will pay an adequate value for it. So it may happen that if our country falls asleep, foreign customers will in the meantime conclude advantageous long-term contracts with our producers and receive biomethane from Czech raw materials, which will then be lacking in our domestic industry.

How do investors view this industry? Are they interested in investing in biomethane?

It makes sense for those investors who can see a little ahead and analyze how European environmental legislation, the emission allowance market and the natural gas market will develop after 2030. It is a long-term rising industry, the growth curve of the appreciation of this investment can be easily predicted. For countries or companies that are obliged to use renewable energies and reduce their emissions, biomethane is a convenient solution and they are very interested in it because it is cheaper than emission allowances or advanced liquid biofuels. It can be assumed that the state will support this renewable energy source in the long term, among other things in terms of its own self-sufficiency, resilience and energy security.

What does the greater security consist of?

Biogas plants are small facilities scattered throughout the territory. If one breaks down or is attacked in the event of a conflict, it does not endanger the entire energy system, as is the case with a large central source. It is always harder to put hundreds of small sources out of operation. And because we do not import the raw material from abroad, but produce it ourselves, there is no danger that someone could blackmail us or cut us off from the energy source.

(article source: https://hn.cz/c1-67693640-biometan-budeme-potrebovat-jeho-vyroba-se-ale-zatim-v-cesku-nevyplati)