2.

IMPACTS OF BIOGAS ON ECONOMICS

Over the years, there has been a rapid progression in the research and development of
alternative resources superseding the usage of non-renewable sources of energy such as crude
oil. With the need of decreasing the amount of oil and natural gas sources, more attention has
been paid to biogas energy as a low-cost resource for domestic and industrial usage.
Moreover, biogas consumption amounts to 19% (at 2011) of global energy consumption .The
largest renewable energy consumption is given by the conventional biomass (9.3% of the
total usage of renewable energy), while the share of biofuels in the energy market is still
constricted to 0.8%.[1]. Figure 2.1 shows the world biogas production at 2012 and its trend
till 2022.
The crucial economic factor which branches out from the input cost of biogas productions are
the feedstock and livestock. For instance, in recent years, the number of animal husbandry
has drastically grown in Malaysia. Hence, a substantial amount of animal waste including
manure, blood and rumen content are produced which provide a tremendous source of biogas
generation. Therefore, the cost of obtaining raw materials are explicitly cheaper as the supply
of feedstock is more than the demand. Table 2.1 shows the amount of products obtained from
the livestock in Malaysia during the year of 20042014 [2].
On the other hand, biogas production offers a range of other interrelated economic benefits.
There are opportunities to diversify farms, business and community revenues beyond
conventional sources. The largest revenue stream often comes from the sale of renewable
energy into the power grid. [3] This is a primary driver for biogas project investments,
particularly in jurisdictions such as Ontario with feed-in tariff rates for renewable power.
Even when biogas electricity is used on-site prior to exporting the excess electricity, savings
from reduced conventional energy use can be realized.
Additional economic benefits are also realized from digestate. The digestate has good soil
enhancement qualities and can be applied to growing crops without damage making it a
marketable and valuable soil amendment. The digestate delivers nutrients in a form that is
more consistent, more readily absorbed and more concentrated, reducing the need for and
cost of synthetic fertilizers. Handling digestate vis-a-vis storage, mixing, pumping and
spreading is easier and requires less energy resulting in reduced production costs.
Another economic benefit of biogas production at wastewater treatment facilities include
energy savings, and the potential for renewable energy revenues, typically accruing to the
municipalities that own most of these facilities across Canada [3]. Many wastewater
treatment facilities in Canada are large, and the possibility of integration with other
community biogas sources such as LFG and SSOs creates the potential for improved
economies of scale. This, in turn, creates further opportunities for developing diverse energy
revenue streams through both electricity and RNG production.

Table 2.1. Livestock production in Malaysia during 2004-2014

3. IMPACTS OF BIOGAS ON ENVIRONMENT

Environmental issues have been debated over the years when it comes to the implementation
of uprising alternative resources for commercial use. Health and safety of the consumers will
always be prioritized over efficiency and productivity of energy sources. The increasing
biogas production, particularly in European Union has gained the attention of many major
NGOs such as Fern and Drax to intervene in the regulatory bodies to ensure the wastes from
the by-products are not detrimental to the environment. The impact of biogas on the
environment is measured by greenhouse gas emissions and waste disposal.
Anaerobic digestion is an environmentally safe method of waste reduction and energy
recovery [4] . Biogas is generated under anaerobic conditions. A long-term degradation
occurs under anaerobic conditions, thus emitting a gas with a significant energy value that is
approximately 55 % methane (CH4) and 45 % carbon dioxide (CO2) with trace
concentrations of other gases . Generally, production and quality of the biogas were
practically constant at 183.7 mL/g of volatile solids and the best biogas composition was 73.6
% CH4 and 26.4 % CO2 . The use of biogas as a fuel source is environmentally sound
because it contributes to a reduction of fossil fuel use and mitigates the greenhouse effect. A
2007 study by Argonne National Laboratory found that the usage of biogas has shown a
significant reduction in the amount of greenhouse gas emission as shown in Figure 3.1.[5]
According to a research done by Arkadiusz Piwowar, the development of renewable energy
market based on agricultural products, produced also in biogas plants, is very important in
terms of the environmental protection. [6] As mentioned previously, the biogas production
reduces emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases produced as a result of the
putrefaction of animal excrements. The reduction in emissions of toxic gases into the
atmosphere is advantageous from an environmental aspect , due to decrease in generation of
greenhouse gases results in lower charges for emissions into the atmosphere . The production
of biogas supplies also to the climate protection by reducing the emissions of CO2, replacing
fossil fuels with renewable energy sources and reducing the emissions of methane (CH4). It
should be concluded that the production of biogas will play an increasingly pivotal role in the
achievement of European Union objectives in the scope of renewable energy . Not only due
to the avoidance of greenhouse gases emissions and production of energy from agricultural
wastes, but also to a reduction in odor emissions . When analyzing the results of previous
studies, it is explicit that there is still a considerable potential for reducing toxic emissions by
increasing the share of energy generated on the basis of agricultural biogas. The studies
carried out in Denmark depicts that in the period from 1990 to 2010 the total emissions of
N2O and CH4 had been reduced by 35%. In turn, as compared with the situation existing in
2010, a further reduction to 50% will take place by 2050 .[7]

Waste disposal represents an ongoing complication in developed countries. Various

techniques are available to lower the amount of waste production and the environmental
destruction, catering in the energy demand. Many systems via anaerobic decomposition of
biomass accomplish biogas production and hence the production of electric energy. As a
matter of fact, such structures exist in most wastewater treatment plants worldwide [6].
Another technology of biogas production is implemented in cane sugar industry, where
biomass is gasified to provide combined heat and power. By using this system, the
approximately 400 tonnes of fibre produced per day could be utilized to generate 22 MW, for
export, generating an efficiency of 22 %.

Besides, leachates and biogas are the two pollutant emissions that are attributes of landfills.
Pollution related to leachates is usually refrained by means of natural and artificial
waterproofing situated at the bottom and on the edges of the cell and integrated by means of
drain pipes important to extract the produced leaching waters. Utilization of biogas instead,
environmentally sound eradicates the emission of CH4, one of the two greenhouse gases
emitted which is about 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide for the greenhouse effect .
[8]

Figure 3.1 : Greenhouse Emissions Based On Type Of Fuel Energy

References
[1] Raboni, M., di Milano, P., Milan and Urbini, G. (2014) Production and use of biogas in Europe: A survey of
current status and perspectives. Available at: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980993X2014000200002 (Accessed: 15 March 2016).
(Raboni et al., 2014)
[2] Abdeshahian, P., Lim, J.S., Ho, W.S., Hashim, H. and Lee, C.T. (2016) Potential of biogas production from
farm animal waste in Malaysia,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 60, pp. 714723. doi:
10.1016/j.rser.2016.01.117.
(Abdeshahian et al., 2016)
[3] Kelleher Environmental and Biogas Association (2013) Canadian Biogas Study Summary. Available at:
http://www.biogasassociation.ca/.../Canadian_Biogas_Study_Summary.pdf (Accessed: 15 March 2016).
[4] Bove, R.; Lunghi. P., (2006). Electric power generation from landfill gas using traditional and innovative
technologies. Energ. Convers. Manage., 47 (11-12), 13911401 (11 pages).
[5] Zamorano, M.; Ignacio Prez Prez, J.; Aguilar Pavs, I.;Ramos, R. A., (2007). Study of the energy potential
of the biogas produced by an urban waste landfill in Southern Spain. Renew.Sust. Energ. Rev., 11 (5), 909922(14 pages).
[6] Francese, A. P.; Francese1, A. P.; Aboagye-Mathiesen, G.; Olesen,T.; Crdoba, P. R.; Sieriz, F., (2000).
Feeding approaches for biogas production from animal wastes and industrial effluents. World. J. Microb. Biot., 16
(2), 147-150 (4 pages).
[7] Karapidakis, E.S., Tsave, A.A., Soupios, P.M. and Katsigiannis, Y.A. (2010) Energy efficiency and
environmental impact of biogas utilization in landfills, Int. J. Environ. Sci. Tech, 7(3), pp. 599608.
[8] U.S Department Of Energy (no date) Alternative fuels data center: Ethanol vehicle emissions. Available at:
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/flexible_fuel_emissions.html (Accessed: 15 March 2016).