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Bio-methane – what is it? |
From a purely chemical standpoint, bio-methane, also called bio natural gas, hardly differs from natural gas. Both gases consist primarily of methane (CH4). However, in contrast to natural gas, bio-methane does not come from fossil sources. Its origin lies in biogas, which can be produced in biogas plants from many substrates such as renewable raw materials, liquid manure, dung or garbage.
However, only 50 to 60 percent of this raw biogas is made up of methane with a high energy quality. The rest is mainly carbon dioxide (CO2). The specific processing of biogas makes it is possible to selectively extract the methane. The purified gas can then be used just as flexibly as natural gas.
In most cases, biogas is currently converted into electricity directly at the production site (biogas plant) in an engine-based cogeneration system. Up until now, the generated heat can only be used if a heat consumer is located in the immediate vicinity.
In contrast to biogas, its similarity to natural gas enables
bio-methane to be transported in the natural gas network that already
exists. For this reason, bio-methane can be used considerably more
efficiently than biogas. Utilization no longer needs to take place near
the biogas plant.
In addition to the positive financial aspects, bio-methane also has
real ecological advantages. Production is CO2-neutral, as the carbon
dioxide released during the production of bio-methane does not come
from fossil deposits, but was previously bound from the atmosphere.
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Biomethan 
