Biogas

Biogas is a methane-rich gas produced when microorganisms break down organic matter without oxygen. Its methane can be burned for heat and electricity or upgraded into fuel.

Anaerobic digestion: The microbial breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. This process produces biogas through coordinated microbial reactions.
Biogas upgrading: The removal of carbon dioxide and impurities from biogas to increase its methane concentration. Upgrading turns raw biogas into a fuel closer to natural gas.
Biomass: Organic material derived from living or recently living organisms. Biomass supplies the carbon-rich feedstocks from which biogas is made.
Methane emissions: The release of methane into the atmosphere from natural and human sources. Leaked biogas undermines climate benefits because methane is a potent greenhouse gas.
Hydrolysis: The breakdown of complex molecules into smaller soluble compounds through reaction with water. It makes complex feedstocks accessible to later stages of biogas production.
Biomethane: Renewable gas produced by upgrading biogas to a high methane concentration. It is the refined form used for gas grids and vehicle fuel.
Methane: A colorless, odorless hydrocarbon gas with the chemical formula CH₄. Methane provides most of biogas’s energy content.
Circular economy: An economic system designed to reduce waste by keeping materials in use through reuse and recovery. Biogas systems can turn organic residues into energy and reusable digestate.
Acidogenesis: The microbial conversion of soluble organic compounds into organic acids, alcohols, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide. Its fermentation products become substrates for methane-forming microbes.
Combined heat and power: The simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat from one energy source. Biogas engines can generate electricity while recovering engine heat.

Linked from 13 pages