Biogas Congress Aims to Curb Greenhouse Emissions from Landfill Sites

Agra Informa's (Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK) Global Biogas Congress will explore how to capitalize on market opportunities for biomethane and landfill gas in power and transportation fuels. The conference is in Brussels during late October and will cover the latest developments across Europe, the United States and Asia.

European Union lawmakers have approved new targets for recycling rubbish, aiming to curb greenhouse emissions from landfill sites. The agreement, which will have to be approved by member states before becoming law, is part of an EU effort to get on top of a growing problem typified by mountains of waste in Naples, Italy. The European Parliament voted in June for the goal of recycling or re-using half of the main types of EU household waste by 2020. Over 1.8 billion tonnes of waste are generated each year in Europe, equating to 3.5 tonnes per person, of which less than a third is recycled. At present, just 2% of household waste is recycled in Hungary and only about 13% in parts of London, while in Holland and Denmark landfilling has been almost eliminated.

As fossil fuel prices rocket and concerns about energy security grow, the opportunity for producing biogas for power and transportation is something most countries should be urgently investigating.

Sweden, Austria and Germany are already well ahead, and France and Spain are fast catching up, while the United Kingdom is lagging behind on biogas technology. In Germany there are 4500 biogas plants and 1500 in Austria. In the UK there are just seven at present. Stockholm is among dozens of cities and towns in Sweden that are now using biogas to run thousands of cars and buses. The tailpipe emissions are virtually odourless, and the fuel is cheaper than gasoline and diesel.

Ulrich Schmack will give the keynote presentation at the conference on the state of the biogas sector, including the progress of biogas in comparison with liquid biofuels. The growing prospects for integrating biogas with ethanol and biodiesel projects will also be examined.

Csaba Sándor Tabajdi, rapporteur on biogas for the European Parliament, will report on the current situation regarding an EU directive promoting the increased production and utilisation of biogas. Emese Kottász, a policy officer from the EU's Renewable Energy Policy Unit, will also speak on the availability of support for the sector, as well as standardisation and policy issues.

Developments in Sweden, a mature market for biogas, will be specifically addressed by Bernt Svensén, a project manager for Biogas Vast in Gothenburg, while the growing use of biomethane for transport will be updated by Bjorn Hugosson, a leading spokesman for Clean Vehicles in the capital Stockholm.

Introducing the Congress, a one-day seminar will also examine how producers can optimise biogas output and upgrade its use, through a series of practical papers from key players across the industry.

For more information, please contact Carol Algar:
carol.algar@informa.com, phone +44 (0)20 7017 7496

www.agra-net.com/biogas