Special file: biogas

With some graphs indicating the number and types of existing and projected biogas production units, a first article outlines that the development rate is presently too low to be able to reach objectives defined for 2020. A second article comments the results of a benchmark study performed by the ADEME on the biogas sector status in European countries (a map indicates the levels of production and electricity purchase tariffs, the evolution of development conditions, and the types of financial support). In an interview, a GrDF manager in charge of strategy discusses the GrDF strategy on biomethane, the future management of gas networks, the operation of existing biomethane injection sites, future projects, the management of consumption variations, and the issue of biomethane injection tariff. An article then presents an experiment made by farmers in western France who gathered about a methanization site with a unit of injection of biomethane into the natural gas network. The assessment of another experiment (a Methanea methanization unit operated by two farmers in the Ain district) is then presented. The next article gives an overview of the various possibilities proposed by the legal framework for the contract between input providers and the methanization unit operator. Different assessment tools are then presented: Flash BMP (a fast and affordable method of measurement of the biochemical methane potential or BMP to perform feasibility studies), and a software for the precise assessment of the profitability of a methanization unit. In an interview, a member of Weltec Biopower proposes a brief overview of services and products proposed by this company which installs biogas and bio-methanization every where in the world. A last article addresses the recent evolutions and progress of certification of French digestates