Options for Adaptation of the Biogas Sector to Serve Evolving Electricity Grids

This article addresses the challenges facing the evolving biogas sector and integration into electricity grids fed with increasing amounts of energy generated by intermittent wind and solar sources. Biogas is a readily storable gas which can be used to generate electricity, when needed, and therefore to make up for periods of time when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining. Various options for biogas storage are considered, both locally at the site of biogas plants and in centralized locations where bigger and more efficient gas engines can be used for electricity generation. Upgrading to biomethane allows gas storage in the natural gas grid and later use for conversion to electricity. Additional biomethane can also be produced by a range of power-to-gas concepts, which also allow storage. Finally, while biogas plants are normally operated under constant conditions, recent research has shown the anaerobic digestion process may not be adversely affected by substantial changes in operating conditions over a period of a few hours or days, and therefore biogas production could in principle be regulated and used on demand when the electricity grid is needed from the power.

BAXTER David; 

2015-12-16

Pan Stanford Publishing

JRC92456

978-981-4613-88-0,   

http://www.panstanford.com/books/9789814613880.html,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC92456,   

10.4032/9789814613897,