BIOMETHANE ROADMAP FOR ITALYState of the art and possible developments

Lorenzo Maggioni, R&D

Consorzio Italiano Biogas(Italian Biogas Consortium)

Agricultural biogas plants> 500

The CIB - Italian Biogas Consortium, formed in March 2009, has national coverage and aimes to be the reference point in the italian biogas and biomethane sector..

• Biogas in Italy

• Biomethane in Italy• Level of subsidies• SWOT analysis• Potential

CONTENTS

BIOGAS AND BIOMETHANE IN ITALY

• The BIOGASDONERIGHT© model• Conclusions

• Possibly developmentes

BIOGAS IN ITALY

BIOGAS IN ITALYThird biogas in the world

- 3th biogas sector after China & Germany

- 4 Billion € invested in the last 5 years

- > 1300 biogas plants built (agriculture + sewage + waste + industrial)

- > 1.000 MWel

- 8 GWh el/year produced

- About 2 billion Nmc Biomethane equivalent utilized per year

- Less than 2% of italian agricultural land used for monocultures

- 12.000 qualified green jobs

BIOMETHANE IN ITALY

DLgs 28/2011: Biomethane “…gas produced from renewable sources with the characteristics and usage conditions corresponding to those of natural gas and

suitable for injection into the natural gas grid

DEFINITIONBiomethane

PRESENT SITUATIONBiomethane plants

Pieve Fissiraga (LO)

San Giovanni Persiceto (BO)

Pinerolo (TO) Mantova (MN)

Roma

New upgrading plants

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Biomethane plants in Italy

Modified by

Entry into force (art. 9 of the Decree) : 18 december 2013

Duration: upgrading plants that will be in service by 17 december 2018

BIOMETHANE IN ITALYDecree 05 Decembre 2013

Organic Fraction Municipal Solid Waste

BIOMETHANE IN ITALYTarget

Agriculture

NEW UPGRADING PLANTS

(new sites)

EXISTING BIOGAS PLANTS(you have to add the upgrading unit)

The new rules will apply to different kinds of plant

incentive reduced compared to new plants

BIOMETHANE IN ITALYDecree 05 Decembre 2013

<The “natural gas grid” includes not only the transport and distribution grids of natural gas, but also other useful systems for the transport of biomethane as dedicated grids, the CNG trailers and distributors (gas station), including the agriculture, also not connected to the networks of transport and distribution of natural gas>.

BIOMETHANE IN ITALYDecree 05 Decembre 2013

Different scenarios depending on:

• New upgrading plant (> €) or existing biogas plant (< €)

• Size of the upgrading plant (> € if < 500 m3 CH4/h)

• Use of by-products (> €)

• Final use of biomethane: injected into natural gas grid, used in trasport (highest incentives), used in high efficency cogeneration plants

• Only for biomethane for transport, the producer is also involved in the distribution of biomethane, eg gas station, (> €) or not (< €).

BIOMETHANE IN ITALYDecree 05 Decembre 2013

Duration of the incentive: 20 years

BIOMETHANE IN ITALYSWOT analysis

Why BIOMETHANE?

•flexible input material •flexible sale options •storable •efficient •tailored to demand •climate-friendly

SWOT ANALYSISStrenghts

SWOT ANALYSISStrenghts

,

SWOT ANALYSISStrenghts

USING BIOMETHANE LIKE A FUEL

SWOT ANALYSISStrenghts

• Biofuel has a long tradition

,

SWOT ANALYSISStrenghts

,

SWOT ANALYSISStrenghts

Reduce negative impact to the environment …The lower nitrogen emissions and higher nitrogen efficiency mean that emissions of NH4 N and N2O N are reduced with about 50 %. However the effect on N2O and NO3 N emissions from soil after the use of liquid

manure fraction need further study. In the literature lower emissions of CH4 have also been documented. Effective internal recycling of plant nutrients and improved crop production The field experiment with additional application in May of 20 tonnes biogas liquid manure ha-1 gave 14 % higher yield of the cash crop winter wheat (15 % higher N yield) and also a corresponding increase of crop residues. In the total balance the nitrogen surplus was 35 instead of 36 N kg-1y-1 thus reducing the total potential nitrogen emissions from the biogas plant system compared to the conventional manure management system. The higher production of crop residues with a high C/N ratio also increases nitrogen immobilisation and in this way also contributes to increased humus content in the soil.

Humus content in soil, long term fertility and production capacity

Done, 12/02/2015

To do!

Withing 60 days from the last provision

July 2015?

Done, January 2015

Done, 12/02/201

5

Done, 12/02/2015

Done, 12/02/2015

SWOT ANALYSISWeaknesses

UNCERTAINTYUNCERTAINTY

Quality parameters?

Quality measurement?

Value of certificates?

The top 10 NGV countries in the world based on total NGVs

Italian Gas Grid infrastructure data:

•Primary transport network: 34,000 km;

•Distribution: 250.000 km networks.

SWOT ANALYSISOpportunities

High interest from industrial groups

SWOT ANALYSISThreats

Powerful lobbies are fighting against biomethane

Political uncertainty

<According to some studies, the potential for growth is important in terms of volume - up to one billion cubic meters a year, especially for biomethane obtained from farms, food

processing companies and landfills>.

National Energy Strategy, March 2013

POTENTIAL OF BIOMETHANE

www.mise.gov.it

BIOMETHANE IN ITALYPotential

1 billion m3 biomethane / year involves investiments of 4 BILLION EURO!

A realistic development plan of methane/biomethane within 2020 should include:

• doubling service stations to 2000;• Doubling current means of transport consumption of CNG methane

(preferably GNL) up to about 2 billions Nm3 by 2020;• Increasing biomethane consumption up to 30% of the total consumption,

about 500.000.000 Nm3/year.

BIOGAS AND BIOMETHANE IN ITALYPossibly developments

What‘s in the next future

1° biomethane tractor

(gas) Liquified Biomethane

Other ways to produce biomethane

TheBIOGASDONERIGHT©

model

BIOGASDONERIGHT©

BIOGASDONERIGHT© is a technological platform that combines Anaerobic Digestion (AD) technologies and other Industrial and Agricultural practices, that when applied synergistically are able to:

• produce additional carbon both in already farmed land and in land that suffer desertification or lowered productivity, especially in dry lands

• simultaneously increase the World Net Primary Production (NPP) of farmland and lower the negative externalities associated with modern conventional agricultural practices;

• continuous increase (until an equilibrium is reached) of the organic content of soils sequestering carbon at the required scale (> 1 Gton C per year)

• realize this at very low cost

• contribute at the same time to an ecological agricultural intensification

Biogasdoneright climate mitigation effects

Mitigation of livestock effluents and by products GHG emissions

Soil coverage the whole year Increased crop rotation Double croppings with minimum tillage with techniques

mutuated from conservative and precision farming Greater increase of Organic Matter to the soils

BIOGASDONERIGHT©

CONCLUSIONS (1/2)

As the chemical composition and energy content of biomethane are close to natural gas, it can likewise be used in the same way: • Gas grid injection and used as a

natural gas substitute in any blend proportion

• Vehicle fuel

Biomethane is a very important advanced bio-fuel. It could contribute to the European climate targets thanks to the reduction of CO2 eq emissions, it advances security of supply and European energy independency from third countries.Biomethane production also generates green jobs.

In Italy biomethane has enormous potential. It is important to remove, as soon as possible, some of the major barriers for his development.

José Graziano Da Silva FAO Director Berlin, 16 January 2015

“In the past decades there have been a lot of debates about food versus biofuel production.

But nowadays we need to move from the food versus fuel debate to a food and fuel debate

Like anything else, it can do good or bad.

However, in more recent years, the demand for biofuels has supported food prices. It acted as a support for those crops creating a buffer zone and avoiding that agricultural prices fell to the point that farmers would be discouraged to produce next year.

Biofuels create additional demand for agriculture products, including cereals in countries with long supplies, which helps farmers in developing countries.”

CONCLUSIONS (2/2)

www.cib-expo.itwww.consorziobiogas.it

Lorenzo Maggioni ricerca@consorziobiogas.it

See you in Sicily, 8-9/10/2015Consorzio Italiano Biogas, EXPO2015 International final event

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!