IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v187y2023ics1364032123005543.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Role of biomethane to offset natural gas

Author

Listed:
  • Marconi, Pietro
  • Rosa, Lorenzo

Abstract

The use of biomethane, produced through anaerobic digestion of organic waste, holds promise as an energy source for mitigating climate change. This study quantifies the technical potential of biomethane, considering neither socio-economic nor political constraints, and then compares it to worldwide natural gas use and imports. Furthermore, it calculates the potential emission reduction achieved by substituting natural gas with biomethane. We find that biomethane can offset 29% of natural gas use and two-thirds of natural gas net-imports worldwide. Considering the European energy crisis arising from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, we analyze the potential for each European country to generate enough biomethane to decrease their reliance on imported Russian natural gas. Our estimates indicate that almost one-third of European countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Romania, Greece, Sweden, and Portugal, have the potential to completely replace their natural gas imports from Russia by utilizing domestic biomethane production. Our study also evaluates how biomethane can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by substituting fossil natural gas, while considering methane leaks in both biomethane and natural gas supply chains and carbon emissions from fossil natural gas combustion. Our results indicate that replacing fossil natural gas with biomethane will decrease emissions from natural gas systems by 11%, equivalent to 1.1 Gt CO2-eq per year. These findings illustrate the potential of biomethane in reducing our dependence on fossil natural gas and mitigating its emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Marconi, Pietro & Rosa, Lorenzo, 2023. "Role of biomethane to offset natural gas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:187:y:2023:i:c:s1364032123005543
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2023.113697
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032123005543
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113697?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raphael Slade & Ausilio Bauen & Robert Gross, 2014. "Global bioenergy resources," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 99-105, February.
    2. Rosa, Lorenzo & Mazzotti, Marco, 2022. "Potential for hydrogen production from sustainable biomass with carbon capture and storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    3. Andrea G. Capodaglio & Arianna Callegari & Maria Virginia Lopez, 2016. "European Framework for the Diffusion of Biogas Uses: Emerging Technologies, Acceptance, Incentive Strategies, and Institutional-Regulatory Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Khan, Muhammad Usman & Lee, Jonathan Tian En & Bashir, Muhammad Aamir & Dissanayake, Pavani Dulanja & Ok, Yong Sik & Tong, Yen Wah & Shariati, Mohammad Ali & Wu, Sarah & Ahring, Birgitte Kiaer, 2021. "Current status of biogas upgrading for direct biomethane use: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Lisa A. Schulte & Bruce E. Dale & Stefano Bozzetto & Matt Liebman & Glaucia M. Souza & Nick Haddad & Tom L. Richard & Bruno Basso & Robert C. Brown & Jorge A. Hilbert & J. Gordon Arbuckle, 2022. "Meeting global challenges with regenerative agriculture producing food and energy," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(5), pages 384-388, May.
    6. Baccioli, A. & Antonelli, M. & Frigo, S. & Desideri, U. & Pasini, G., 2018. "Small scale bio-LNG plant: Comparison of different biogas upgrading techniques," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 328-335.
    7. Scarlat, Nicolae & Fahl, Fernando & Dallemand, Jean-François & Monforti, Fabio & Motola, Vicenzo, 2018. "A spatial analysis of biogas potential from manure in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 915-930.
    8. Davis, Steven J & Lewis, Nathan S. & Shaner, Matthew & Aggarwal, Sonia & Arent, Doug & Azevedo, Inês & Benson, Sally & Bradley, Thomas & Brouwer, Jack & Chiang, Yet-Ming & Clack, Christopher T.M. & Co, 2018. "Net-Zero Emissions Energy Systems," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt7qv6q35r, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Shuaibing & Lin, Haitao & Abed, Azher M. & Mahariq, Ibrahim & Ayed, Hamdi & Mouldi, Abir & Lin, Zhixiang, 2024. "Life cycle analysis of biowaste-to- biogas/biomethane processes: Cost and environmental assessment of four different biowaste scenarios organic fraction of municipal solid waste and secondary sewage s," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    2. Aui, Alvina & Wang, Yu, 2025. "Policy support and technology development trajectory for renewable natural gas in the U.S," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    3. Hurtig, O. & Buffi, M. & Besseau, R. & Scarlat, N. & Carbone, C. & Agostini, A., 2025. "Mitigating biomethane losses in European biogas plants: A techno-economic assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    4. Wang, Chenxuan & Li, Zhiwei & Tan, Raymond R. & Aviso, Kathleen B. & Wang, Fang & Jia, Xiaoping, 2024. "Feasibility analysis for bio-natural gas generated from high-concentration organic wastewater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Esfandiyar Naeiji & Alireza Noorpoor & Hossein Ghanavati, 2022. "Energy, Exergy, and Economic Analysis of Cryogenic Distillation and Chemical Scrubbing for Biogas Upgrading and Hydrogen Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Guerin, Turlough F., 2022. "Business model scaling can be used to activate and grow the biogas-to-grid market in Australia to decarbonise hard-to-abate industries: An application of entrepreneurial management," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Naquash, Ahmad & Agarwal, Neha & Nizami, Muhammad & Nga, Nguyen Nhu & Aziz, Muhammad & Lee, Moonyong, 2024. "Unlocking the potential of cryogenic biogas upgrading technologies integrated with bio-LNG production: A comparative assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 371(C).
    4. Rosa, Lorenzo & Mazzotti, Marco, 2022. "Potential for hydrogen production from sustainable biomass with carbon capture and storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. Siegrist, Armin & Bowman, Gillianne & Burg, Vanessa, 2022. "Energy generation potentials from agricultural residues: The influence of techno-spatial restrictions on biomethane, electricity, and heat production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    6. Reed, Jeffrey & Dailey, Emily & Shaffer, Brendan & Lane, Blake & Flores, Robert & Fong, Amber & Samuelsen, Scott, 2023. "Potential evolution of the renewable hydrogen sector using California as a reference market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    7. Ganter, Alissa & Gabrielli, Paolo & Sansavini, Giovanni, 2024. "Near-term infrastructure rollout and investment strategies for net-zero hydrogen supply chains," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    8. Yue, Wencong & Su, Meirong & Cai, Yanpeng & Rong, Qiangqiang & Tan, Zhenkun, 2021. "Reactive nitrogen loss from livestock-based food and biofuel production systems considering climate change and dietary transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    9. Yang, Lan & Wang, Xue-Chao & Dai, Min & Chen, Bin & Qiao, Yuanbo & Deng, Huijing & Zhang, Dingfan & Zhang, Yizhe & Villas Bôas de Almeida, Cecília Maria & Chiu, Anthony S.F. & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & W, 2021. "Shifting from fossil-based economy to bio-based economy: Status quo, challenges, and prospects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    10. Suopajärvi, Hannu & Umeki, Kentaro & Mousa, Elsayed & Hedayati, Ali & Romar, Henrik & Kemppainen, Antti & Wang, Chuan & Phounglamcheik, Aekjuthon & Tuomikoski, Sari & Norberg, Nicklas & Andefors, Alf , 2018. "Use of biomass in integrated steelmaking – Status quo, future needs and comparison to other low-CO2 steel production technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 384-407.
    11. de Chalendar, Jacques A. & Benson, Sally M., 2021. "A physics-informed data reconciliation framework for real-time electricity and emissions tracking," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    12. Grzegorz Ślusarz & Barbara Gołębiewska & Marek Cierpiał-Wolan & Jarosław Gołębiewski & Dariusz Twaróg & Sebastian Wójcik, 2021. "Regional Diversification of Potential, Production and Efficiency of Use of Biogas and Biomass in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-20, January.
    13. Cheng, Zucheng & Sun, Lintao & Liu, Yingying & Jiang, Lanlan & Chen, Bingbing & Song, Yongchen, 2023. "Study on the micro-macro kinetic and amino acid-enhanced separation of CO2-CH4 via sII hydrate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    14. Oskar Englund & Ioannis Dimitriou & Virginia H. Dale & Keith L. Kline & Blas Mola‐Yudego & Fionnuala Murphy & Burton English & John McGrath & Gerald Busch & Maria Cristina Negri & Mark Brown & Kevin G, 2020. "Multifunctional perennial production systems for bioenergy: performance and progress," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(5), September.
    15. Xi Yang & Chris P. Nielsen & Shaojie Song & Michael B. McElroy, 2022. "Breaking the hard-to-abate bottleneck in China’s path to carbon neutrality with clean hydrogen," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(10), pages 955-965, October.
    16. Kazuki Shun & Kohsuke Mori & Takumi Kidawara & Satoshi Ichikawa & Hiromi Yamashita, 2024. "Heteroatom doping enables hydrogen spillover via H+/e− diffusion pathways on a non-reducible metal oxide," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    17. Fries, Steven, 2023. "Sequencing decarbonization policies to manage their macroeconomic impacts," INET Oxford Working Papers 2023-26, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    18. Andrea G. Capodaglio & Gustaf Olsson, 2019. "Energy Issues in Sustainable Urban Wastewater Management: Use, Demand Reduction and Recovery in the Urban Water Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.
    19. Yi, Yuxin & Zhang, Liming & Du, Lei & Sun, Helin, 2024. "Cross-regional integration of renewable energy and corporate carbon emissions: Evidence from China's cross-regional surplus renewable energy spot trading pilot," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    20. Kim, S. & Dodds, P.E. & Butnar, I., 2025. "Economic feasibility of low-carbon ethylene, propylene and jet fuel production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:187:y:2023:i:c:s1364032123005543. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.