Potential for biomethanisation of CO2 from anaerobic digestion of organic wastes in the United Kingdom
Potential for biomethanisation of CO2 from anaerobic digestion of organic wastes in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom (UK) has a decarbonisation strategy that includes energy from both hydrogen and biomethane. The latter comes from the growing anaerobic digestion (AD) market, which in 2020 produced 23.3 TWh of energy in the form of biogas. According to the strategy, this must be upgraded to biomethane by removal of carbon dioxide (CO2): a goal that could also be fulfilled through CO2 biomethanisation, alleviating the need for carbon capture and storage. Results are presented from a survey of publicly available datasets coupled with modelling to identify potential scale and knowledge gaps. Literature data were used to estimate maximum biomethane concen-trations by feedstock type: these ranged from 79% for food wastes to 93% for livestock manures. Data from various government sources were used to estimate the overall potential for CO2 bio-methanisation with current AD infrastructure. Values for the uplift in biomethane production ranged from 57% to 61%, but the need for more consistent data collection methodologies was highlighted. On average, however, if CO2 biomethanisation was applied in all currently operating UK AD plants an energy production uplift of 12,954 GWh could be achieved based on 2020 figures. This is sufficient to justify the inclusion of CO2 biomethanisation in decarbonisation strategies, in the UK and worldwide
United Kingdom policy, anaerobic digestion, biomethane production, energy security, in-situ biomethanisation, power-to-gas
Bywater, Angela
293fa6f5-71eb-4b69-a24c-58753b58ed4c
Heaven, Sonia
f25f74b6-97bd-4a18-b33b-a63084718571
Zhang, Yue
69b11d32-d555-46e4-a333-88eee4628ae7
Banks, Charles
5c6c8c4b-5b25-4e37-9058-50fa8d2e926f
16 June 2022
Bywater, Angela
293fa6f5-71eb-4b69-a24c-58753b58ed4c
Heaven, Sonia
f25f74b6-97bd-4a18-b33b-a63084718571
Zhang, Yue
69b11d32-d555-46e4-a333-88eee4628ae7
Banks, Charles
5c6c8c4b-5b25-4e37-9058-50fa8d2e926f
Bywater, Angela, Heaven, Sonia, Zhang, Yue and Banks, Charles
(2022)
Potential for biomethanisation of CO2 from anaerobic digestion of organic wastes in the United Kingdom.
Processes, 10 (6), [1202].
(doi:10.3390/pr10061202).
Abstract
The United Kingdom (UK) has a decarbonisation strategy that includes energy from both hydrogen and biomethane. The latter comes from the growing anaerobic digestion (AD) market, which in 2020 produced 23.3 TWh of energy in the form of biogas. According to the strategy, this must be upgraded to biomethane by removal of carbon dioxide (CO2): a goal that could also be fulfilled through CO2 biomethanisation, alleviating the need for carbon capture and storage. Results are presented from a survey of publicly available datasets coupled with modelling to identify potential scale and knowledge gaps. Literature data were used to estimate maximum biomethane concen-trations by feedstock type: these ranged from 79% for food wastes to 93% for livestock manures. Data from various government sources were used to estimate the overall potential for CO2 bio-methanisation with current AD infrastructure. Values for the uplift in biomethane production ranged from 57% to 61%, but the need for more consistent data collection methodologies was highlighted. On average, however, if CO2 biomethanisation was applied in all currently operating UK AD plants an energy production uplift of 12,954 GWh could be achieved based on 2020 figures. This is sufficient to justify the inclusion of CO2 biomethanisation in decarbonisation strategies, in the UK and worldwide
Text
processes-10-01202 (1)
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 14 June 2022
Published date: 16 June 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This research was supported by the IBCat H2AD project (EP/M028208/1) funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), by a grant from the Carbon Recycling Network (POC-02-ZHANG-CCnet) funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and by in-kind support from the Environmental Biotechnology Network (BB/S009795/1) funded by BBSRC and EPSRC.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, MDPI. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
United Kingdom policy, anaerobic digestion, biomethane production, energy security, in-situ biomethanisation, power-to-gas
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 467644
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/467644
ISSN: 2227-9717
PURE UUID: 33965a23-8b00-4f3d-9b71-832dde2bde43
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 18 Jul 2022 17:44
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:35
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
