{"id":582,"date":"2021-07-15T10:40:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T10:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-485533-2256537.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=582"},"modified":"2022-07-18T17:22:02","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T17:22:02","slug":"joining-the-uk-energy-revolution-green-gas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenbuying.co.uk\/joining-the-uk-energy-revolution-green-gas\/","title":{"rendered":"Joining the UK energy revolution: Green Gas"},"content":{"rendered":"
Biomethane, otherwise known as Green Gas, is a gas mixture consisting predominantly consisting of methane. It has similar thermal characteristics to natural gas. Subject to meeting gas quality requirements biomethane is considered as pipeline quality gas and can be injected into the natural gas network and used in existing gas appliances.<\/p>\n
Step one<\/strong>\u00a0in the manufacturing process is to collect Biomass – a variety of organic materials, including the biodegradable fraction of domestic and commercial wastes (e.g. food waste, paper, card and wood, agricultural waste, sewage sludge, energy crops, residues from whisky distilling and cheese making).<\/p>\n Step two<\/strong> is to place this biomass into tanks where bacteria breaks it down naturally in an oxygen-free environment in a process known as anaerobic digestion (AD). This is the same process that occurs in a cow\u2019s stomach, but while cows burp methane out into the atmosphere the gas produced at AD plants is collected (at this stage known as biogas). Fertiliser is another by-product of this process. Biogas is a combustible gas composed predominantly of methane, carbon dioxide, and other trace levels of hydrogen sulphide, water vapour, ammonia.<\/p>\n At the end of this collection stage, the unpurified biogas can be burned on-site to generate heat, power or both. Or it can be purified to make biomethane, or Green Gas (see step 3 below).<\/p>\n Step three<\/strong> involves the use of a biogas upgrader facility to remove all elements of the biogas other than methane, thereby purifying the biogas up to the levels of methane concentration required to be interchangeable with natural gas (i.e. biomethane gas). One technique for doing this uses amine gas treating. There are four main methods of purifying the biogas, the most popular being water washing. This involves high-pressure gas flowing into a column in which the carbon dioxide and other trace elements are scrubbed by cascading water running counter-flow to the gas. This arrangement can deliver 98% methane with manufacturers guaranteeing maximum 2% methane loss in the system. It takes roughly between 3% and 6% of the total energy output in gas to run a biogas purification system.<\/p>\n Why is Green Gas more eco-friendly than natural gas?<\/strong><\/p>\n If left to escape into the atmosphere, methane is over 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2. Capturing and burning it instead as Green Gas releases the same amount of carbon than the organic matter originally absorbed, meaning no net negative impact on the climate.<\/p>\n Biomethane as a vehicle fuel, known as bio-CNG, delivers all the benefits of natural gas, but with clear advantage; it is renewable and sustainable. Compared to diesel, there is around 72% reduction in CO2 emissions. There are significant economic benefits for fleet owners switching to natural gas vehicles, with financial savings of between 40% – 50% compared to diesel.<\/p>\n