PROBIOGAS

PROBIOGAS Promotion of Biogas for Electricity and Heat Production in EU Countries

Context

The concept of centralised co-digestion is based on producing biogas by anaerobic co-digestion of animal manure and slurries and a variety of suitable organic wastes from agriculture, food processing industries, households etc. The centralised co-digestion plants are located in the areas with a high concentration of manure, in order to minimise the transportation costs.
The centralised co-digestion cycle represents an integrated system of manure and organic waste treatment and renewable energy production, generating some interwined environmental and economic benefits :

 production of renewable energy ;
 cheap and safe recycling of organic waste ;
 less emission of greenhouse gases ;
 pathogen reduction through sanitation ;
 improved fertilisation efficiency ;
 redistribution of the excess of nutrients ;
 reduced nuisance from odours and flies ;
 saving for farmers.

Over the last 30 years, cost efficient biogas production systems were developed in Denmark, supported by governmental R & D programmes.

The results from Denmark prove that biogas from centralised co-digestion is a multi functional technology, providing quantifiable environmental and economic benefits for agriculture, industry, energy and the overall society and is a very competitive tool in the reduction of emission greenhouse gases.

Objectives

The PROBIOGAS project aims to transfer experience of the best practice of utilising RES and by this to promote the production of biogas for electricity and heat in EU countries.
The project aims to raise awareness by proving that biogas is economically and environmentally beneficial to local communities and to the society as a whole and can contribute to achieving national climate and environmental protection objectives. The main objective is to transfer and apply existing knowledge to selected case studies in partner countries and to disseminate the obtained results to the project target groups and to a broad European level.

Description of tasks

TASK 1 : contact and selection of the members of the target group and coordination of this group during the project. Identification of the concrete case which will be analysed. Organisation of a national meeting introducing the project.

TASK 2 : collect of relevant data for the analysis of the case studied in coordination with the national target group and Danish partners.

TASK 4 : list of the main non-technological barriers met in Belgium and analysis of these barriers (in collaboration with the members of the national target group and the other partners).

TASK 5 : Organisation of meetings in Walloonia, transfer of the information to the target group. Writing of a national report including all the results and data obtained during the project. Taking part to the final meeting presenting the results.

Expected results

It is expected that the assessment reports will clarify the incentives and the barriers for each national target group and will establish a platform for the initiation of new future policy initiatives for the development of biogas.
The members of the project target groups will be interactively involved from early stages in the data collection and continuous dissemination processes. The final project results will be concretised in assessment reports and will be disseminated by a European seminar. A continuous dissemination will be provided by the means of web page www.sdu.dk/bio/PROBIOGAS, newsletters, conference papers, overall networking and collaboration with other networks and organisations etc.

For the farming sector (farmers, farmers association and farming services)
The work carried out within the framework of this project will allow farmers to be aware of the improvement of the handling and utilization of cattle waste, which also leads to a reduction of environmental impacts and a saving of fertilizers by using better cattle watse.

For institutions and local, regional and national environmental authorities
It is expected that these institutions be aware of the fact that the utilization of degased manure in agriculture lead to a reduction of the losses as well as to other advantages such as the reduction of pathogens or the ordor nuisances. This way, these information linked to a concrete case of the country concerned could change mentalities and lead an opening towards new policies.

For political leaders
The work carried out will also show that biomethanation is a performing tool for the reduction of greenhouse effect gases and the development of renewable energies.
Once this work done, it is expected that regional and national political leaders help making political decisions in order to remove the identified non-technological barriers and so to help the development of biogas in their respective country.

The target groups being part of the project since the beginning are going to be the organisational structure necessary for the bringing into play of biomethanation projects specific in each country. The transfer of knowledge between the different countries is also going to help the development of biogas.

Partners

University of Southern Denmark - Denmark, Danish Research Institute of Food Enconomics - Denmark, Risoe National Laboratory - Denmark, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences - Denmark, Danish Agricultural Advisory Centre - Denmark, Association Solagro - France, Centre of Renewable Energy Sources - Greece, SenterNovem - Netherlands, University of Barcelona - Spain, Methanogen Ltd - Ireland.