Germany launches first "compact" bio-LNG plant

German companies Agrarvereinigung eG Darchau and Ruhe Biogas and Italy's Ecospray teamed up to launch what they say is the first compact bio-LNG plant in Germany, they said in a joint statement on August 10.

The plant in Darchau, Lower Saxony, will produce biogas from manure and dung in the region and liquefy it for use as a heavy-duty transport fuel. It will have a capacity of 3 metric tons/day, or around 1,000 mt/year, replacing about 1.3mn litres of conventional diesel that is currently used annually, and leading to a reduction of CO₂ emissions of 7,000 mt in the process.

The facility is designed to serve as a model for use at other farms throughout Germany, the companies said.

"We could do with a lot of small, decentralised bio-LNG plants in Germany right now,” Kunibert Ruhe, board member at Agrarvereinigung eG Darchau and shareholder of Ruhe Biogas, said in the statement. “Agricultural businesses can produce biogas self-sufficiently in the form of a circular economy using residual materials from their own farms and from businesses in their region and refine it into bio-LNG."

While trucks only account for 6% of the vehicles on Germany's roads, they cause 30% of CO₂ emissions from vehicle transport. Germany already has a relatively well-developed LNG filling network, hosting 134 of the 576 LNG stations in Europe. While conventional LNG can cut emissions by up to 20% versus diesel, bio-LNG can result in negative emissions, as long as it is produced sustainably.

“Only about 30% of farm manure is currently used in conventional biogas plants. If we were to use 100% in the future and process it into bio-LNG, we could supply about 37% of the truck fleet,” Ruhe said.