Agriculture-oriented Brazil offers abundant biogas and biomethane potential in the short- and long-term, according to a report and accompanying webinar from the World Biogas Association today.
The south American country operates 35 biomethane plants producing 874,000 cbm daily, but the country could accommodate up to 200 by 2032, producing up to 120 million cbm daily.
Currently 33 biomethane plants are awaiting authorisation between now and 2032, and Brazil is forecast to produce 34.9 cbm daily within the next five years, or 12.7bn cbm/y by 2030, equivalent to 36% of the RePowerEU target.
Biogas is a far larger sector however, with 1,365 plants, and São Paulo has three-to-four times more biogas potential than any other states.
The industry is being driven by four key sectors: sugar energy, animal protein, agricultural production, and sanitation.
Renata Isfer, Executive President of ABiogas, the national association, highlighted federal incentives and eight tax incentives which can help grow the sector as well as regulatory advances last year covering low-carbon hydrogen and decarbonisation.
The creation of the biomethane guarantee of origin certificate (CGOB) ensures that the methane molecule accompanying the certificate is considered biomethane.
The programme established a decarbonisation target for the natural gas sector ranging from 1% to 10%. The verification of compliance with the target will be achieved through the purchase of a minimum volume of biomethane or the CGOB.
The main challenges to growth are the absence of specific policies and regulatory frameworks, lack of capital financing and incentives, absence of a ‘level playing field’ with fossil fuels in the market, limited gas infrastructure, illegal dump sites, high upfront costs, and competition.
“There’s a lot going on … we do need to regulate the fuel of the future and our tax reform,” she said.
WBA webinar panel
Felipe Marques of CIBiogas, which cooperates closely with ABiogas, said today there were 338 new biogas plants in 2023 producing 4.15bn Nm3/y.
“I like the numbers but they could be better – we could grow to 10,000 biogas plants in Brazil, which shouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
He highlighted biomethane-to-mobility projects covering municipalities, outsourced logistics and distribution of biomethane to industries and gas stations.
“Certificates are changing the market. Whereas before clients maybe had only one market, they now have more options from digestate to biofertilisers, and biogas offtakers,” he said.
“The number of companies operating in other technologies, especially wind and solar, now looking at biogas, has increased significantly – this has a positive and negative side. The waste market is not used to long-term contracts – it’s important we have guarantees for 10 to 15 years,” he said, adding there is also a lack of more in-depth training
Policy analyst Karina Navarro, drawing on IEA data, said the global biogas market is forecast to grow 30% between 2024 and 2030, driven by clean energy and emissions reduction demands.
More than 148,000 medium- and large-scale plants are in operation as well as 50 million micro-scale household digesters across Asia, Africa and Americas.
Turning to Brazil, she said biogas installed capacity now stands at 8,876 GWh, which is predominantly used to generate electricity and biomethane.
Pradeep Monga outlined the WBA’s #MakingBiogasHappen programme covering the global regulatory framework and 11-module international AD certification scheme, and a second phase which will involve roll-out at national and state level, covering outreach, adaptation and capacity building.
