Adding gas from biomass to the gas grid - SGC

market for the gas is established. By connecting the biogas plant to the natural gas grid, marketdevelopment may be done without increasing the own production capacity (using gas from the grid)and investments may be postponed until the market for gas is established.2.2 UTILISATION OF ENERGY FROM BIOMASSThere are different routes to utilise energy from biomass. These routes can be categorised by thesecondary products involved. These secondary products are:• heat : produced by combustion• biogas : produced by anaerobic digestion• syngas : produced by thermal processes (gasification and/or pyrolysis)The heat from combustion can be used for:• heating (residential, commercial and industrial)• power production• combined heat and power productionThe biogas from anaerobic digestion can be used for:• production of pipeline quality gas• power production• combined heat and power productionThe syngas from thermal processes can be used for:• production of pipeline quality gas• power production• combined heat and power production• production of chemicals (e.g. methanol or hydrogen)CombustionThe most widespread application of biomass is combustion for heating. The combustion of biomassis in many rural locations the main source of heat. Only 5 to 15% of the energy in the biomass isconverted to useful heat [lit.3]. The remaining 85 - 95% is spilled to the environment.Some biomass is fed to a boiler that provides steam to drive turbines for power production.About 10 - 20% of the energy is converted to power.Co-firing is a more efficient way to utilise biomass (and wastes) for energy. In this process biomasspage: 7