Autumn 2023 EN

ENGLISH ISSUE
German Biogas Association | ZKZ 50073
www.biogas.org
Autumn 2023
The trade magazine
Including Country Reports from
Japan
and Serbia
Water-saving
Corn Cultivation 6
Meadow Grass, Biogas
and Bioplastics 32
Horse Manure:
Tempting, but Tricky 42

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Biogas Journal | AUTUMN_2023
EDITORIAL
Biogas Industry
Faces Mixed Outlook
with Adoption of New
Renewable Energy
Directive
Dear Readers,
On September 12, the European Parliament
approved the revision of the Renewable Energy
Directive (RED III). After receiving the
outstanding final approval by the Council,
the member states can finally start implementing
the directive.
One positive aspect is that the overall target
for renewable energies has been raised significantly,
from 32 % to at least 42.5 % – if
possible, the member states should jointly
even achieve 45 % by 2030. This ambitious
target is diminished by the fact that there
will still be no binding national targets. It is
true that every two years, each member state
must submit a so-called National Energy and
Climate Plan (NECP), which sets out the national
targets as well as the measures that
are devised to achieve these targets.
These plans are then evaluated by the European
Commission and, if insufficiently
evaluated, returned to the member states
for revision. Unfortunately, however, there
are no effective sanction mechanisms in
place if states fail to deliver or implement
the agreed measures as announced. Thus,
while ambitious targets are welcome, actual
implementation is doubtful due to a lack of
mandatory commitments.
In the heating/cooling sector, there is a
binding target for the first time to increase
the share of renewable energy by 0.8 percentage
points per year by 2025 and by 1.1
percentage points from 2026. This could
indeed promote the use of renewables including
biogas and biomethane in the heating
sector, depending on country-specific
circumstances. However, it is evident that
the mandated increase in renewables is lower
than the naturally expected growth of renewable
heat in the EU, which was already
at 1.1 percentage points in 2020.
RED III also defines new targets in the
transport sector: Member States can either
require fuel suppliers to ensure that
the share of renewable energy in transport
reaches at least 29 % by 2030, or achieves
a greenhouse gas reduction of at least 14.5
% by 2030. To meet these targets, Member
States may consider the injection of biogas
into the national gas grid.
Overall, it can be said that while there are
more ambitious targets in the transport
sector, the new common sub-quota for
advanced biogas, biofuels and Renewable
Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs) is
a step backwards and less ambitious than
in RED II. However, while the sector could
benefit in the early stages due to availability
and cost competitiveness, the lack of a
dedicated sub-quota could be detrimental
in the long run.
Retroactive changes in the sustainability
criteria could also have a negative impact:
Since 2026, existing plants with 15 years
of operation must achieve an 80 % reduction
in greenhouse gas emissions. As the
plants were planned under different conditions
and the calculation of GHG emissions
is extremely complicated due to the lack of
standard values for cultivation, these retroactive
requirements could lead to the abandonment
of many biogas plants.
The times are challenging for the biogas industry,
in which ever new regulations have
to be implemented at an ever faster pace.
In this issue of our journal, however, we
mainly want to present positive developments
and technical innovations: In the
first article, we present the production of
bioplastics from grass, for which biogas is
used as an energy source – a kind of biorefinery,
so to speak.
We will also present a block of three articles
on intelligent and sustainable solutions in
arable farming: How can corn be grown more
water-efficiently in the future? How can soil
organisms be better maintained? How can
water be kept in the soil and evaporation
reduced as much as possible? Three articles
are devoted to these topics and explore
sustainable agriculture practices – even in
the face of increasing drought.
Horse manure is a useful feedstock for
biogas plants, but often causes difficulties
during digestion. In our article we report on
research and real-world applications of this
intriguing feedstock. The usual country reports
– this time on Japan and Serbia – are
supplemented by an article on a biomethane
plant that processes biogas from seven
regional biogas plants.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue of the
Journal!
Best regards,
Julia Münch,
Department International Affairs
German Biogas Association
3

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
IMPRINT
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AGROTEL aquires Sattler Ceno
Meet our team at the Biogas
Convention from 12th to 14th of
December in Nuremberg, Germany.
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The newspaper, and all articles contained
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BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
EDITORIAL
3 Biogas Industry Faces Mixed Outlook with Adoption
of New Renewable Energy Directive
By Julia Münch, Department International Affairs
German Biogas Association
4 Imprint
GERMANY
6 Advancing Sustainable Agriculture through Intelligent
Solutions and High-Tech Innovations
By Christian Dany
15 BIOGAS Convention & Trade Fair 2023
16 Keeping every Drop of Rain in the Soil
By Dipl.-Journ. Wolfgang Rudolph
26 Strip-tillage Moves Less Soil and Reduces Water Evaporation
By Dipl.-Ing. agr. (FH) Martin Bensmann
6
32 Meadow Grass, Biogas and Bioplastics
By Dipl. Geographer Martin Frey
36 Biogas from Seven Regional Plants – Operating Results
of the Upgrading Unit in Bitburg
By Dipl. Geographer Martin Frey
42 Horse Manure: Tempting, but Tricky
By Christian Dany
COUNTRY REPORTS
46 JAPAN
Milk, Manure, Hydrogen
By Klaus Sieg
54 SERBIA
Searching for the Perfect Substrate
By Klaus Sieg
42
COVERPHOTOGRAPH: LANDAG AG
PHOTOGRAPHS: LANDAG AG, ÖKOBIT GMBH, MARTIN EGBERT
46
5

No-till farming of
maize into grain
stubble with green
catch crop.
PHOTOGRAPH: LANDAG AG
6

Advancing Sustainable Agriculture
through Intelligent Solutions and
High-Tech Innovations
Hanspeter Lauper is a somewhat different agricultural contractor: His name stands for
conservation tillage, which aims at a form of arable farming and fodder growing that is
in harmony with nature. The Swiss farmer has modified his direct seeding machines and
equipped them with high-tech technology from the USA.
Author: Christian Dany
Wiler lies in the “Sealand”, a relatively
large plain near Bern, Switzerland,
with three lakes, the Alps to the south,
and the Jura mountains to the north.
It is here that you will find the farm
of Hanspeter Lauper – a man with a wide range of responsibilities.
He is a master agricultural machinery
mechanic and also works as a vocational school teacher
in that capacity. In addition, he runs a small farm. However,
the majority of his working hours are devoted to his
contracting business, Landag AG.
“We don’t do any soil cultivation,” he says, summarizing
the conversation with an unusual statement for a
contractor. “We just don’t do mechanical soil cultivation.
The soil organisms cultivate the soil.” Above all,
Lauper is an unwavering advocate of conservation tillage,
with 30 years of experience in direct seeding.
Emulating Permanent Grassland on the Field
Although he normally speaks in the (adapted) Bernese
dialect, he uses the English term “Conservation Agriculture”.
This approach is based on three principles:
soil regeneration, soil cover, and plant diversity through
crop rotations and catch crops. “In conservation arable
farming and fodder growing, we attempt to emulate the
soil conditions found in permanent grassland,” says
58-year-old Lauper.
The principle of soil regeneration requires the application
of no-till direct seeding (no-till, not more than 25
percent soil disturbance according to FAO). Continuous
cultivation reduces soil bearing capacity. “When
roots are in the soil, it’s like reinforcement. Wide tires
or a pneumatic pressure control system can reduce soil
pressure, but they cannot improve the soil structure.”
Pioneer: Dr. Wolfgang Sturny
It all started for Lauper in 1993 when the Soil Protection
Agency of the Canton of Bern planned to implement
no-till farming because of the concentration of
nitrate in drinking water. At the initiative of Dr. Wolfgang
Sturny, a program was launched at that time in
which farmers received financial support for the direct
seeding of cover crops and catch crops. The agricultural
scientist Sturny is regarded as an authority in the
7

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
No-till farming of maize into the dead winter cover crop using a John Deere machine
that has been modified to meet Hanspeter Lauper’s needs. You can clearly see how the
planting rows have been cleared.
No-till farming of
maize: Three-leaf
stage of corn in dead
winter catch crop,
which remains on the
soil surface as mulch
material.
field of Conservation Agriculture. He has set up an international
network and brought a wealth of knowledge
to Switzerland from North America and other Englishspeaking
countries. As a technology enthusiast, Lauper
acquired such a machine, and Sturny became his
mentor.
Lauper started with a tine coulter direct-seed drill and
worked with it for about three years. It turned out that
“the tines gather all the harvest material together when
it’s slightly damp in narrow row spacing.” Lauper then
bought a John Deere 750A and he still has a seed drill
like this today. It has disc harrows that cut both through
the mulch layer and soil surface, depositing the seeds
at the bottom of the seed slot. While the 750A has
a slightly inclined disc per row, his precision drill is
equipped with v-shaped double discs.
A special type of direct seeding coulter is the so-called
“cross-slot coulter” (Cross-Slot). It places the seeds or
fertilizers laterally beside the seed slot. The Cross-Slot
configuration is primarily used by the French manufacturer
Novag: It combines two seed boots – one on
each side – with a central cutting disc. Instead of a
“V” or “U” shape, Novag machines cut an inverted “T”
into the soil, enabling separate placement of seeds and
fertilizers.
Service Provider for No-Till Farming
This year, Landag AG sowed approximately 1,100 hectares
using precision seeding and drill seeding, reveals
Lauper. “We cover all aspects of seeding but do not engage
in soil cultivation.” He stands for no-till farming,
but upon customer request, also does mulch seeding
or seeding for strip-till using the same machines. In
addition, Landag AG has combines for grain and maize
harvest. They also provide soil sampling as a service,
crop consulting, and field trials. Lauper’s son, Raphael,
is now fully involved in the company as well.
Landag relies on digital technology from as early as
the planning stage. Customers can record their fields
digitally and upload the geo-field data on the Landag
website, or Lauper measures the plots before seeding
using a quad bike equipped with GPS. Hanspeter or
Raphael Lauper then specify the lanes and enter them
in the order management system, from where the data
is transferred to the cloud through an interface. From
the seeding tractor or combine harvester, the driving
PHOTOGRAPHS: LANDAG AG, CHRISTIAN DANY
8

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
No-till farming of maize into dead catch crop. The orange-colored corn
kernel is clearly discernible. In addition to plant roots, earthworms
contribute to producing a crumbly, loose soil.
lane and field data can be accessed in real-time. The machine automatically
steers from the beginning, allowing the driver to focus
on the implement.
Furthermore, Lauper stresses the importance of reducing weight to
minimize soil compaction. He equipped his new 20-row grain drill,
the frame for the three-point attachment of which he designed and
constructed himself, with seed units featuring automatic downforce
control by Precision Planting, a provider of digital agricultural
systems from the USA. In the hydraulic system of the Agco Group
subsidiary, the required pressure is measured and automatically
adjusted at each of the 20 coulters.
“The force required often varies by a
factor of 10,” says Lauper. Crop residues
or compacted wheel tracks are
potential causes.
Winter barley following grain corn, just over a
month after sowing. Soil organisms break down
the corn straw very quickly.
Lightweight Tractors in
Action
If each coulter is individually regulated,
it saves a tremendous amount
of energy and weight: “The machine
can be a quarter to a third lighter.
Then I don’t need such a heavy
tractor. The seed is carried in the
front tank. The electronic system
reduces the overall weight. That is
the way of the future. We do everything
with 6.7-ton tractors. When
going uphill, we sometimes drive at
only 5 to 6 kilometers per hour
The maize fills up the rows. The soil
becomes more and more shaded.
There is still a mulch layer between
the rows. The earthworms will
gradually work through it.
9

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
The angled clearing
tools on the John
Deere corn planter
machine clear the
seed row.
Hanspeter Lauper
explains measurements
of the automatic
downforce control on
his drill machine.
a 6-row planter, allowing me to be more efficient.”
In the ExactEmerge planter, a brush belt replaces
the seed tube, which, according to Lauper, enables
precise separation and accurate transport of the
seeds into the seed slot at speeds of up to 16 km/h.
Hanspeter Lauper explains: “The John Deere
ExactEmerge is actually only available from
8-row maize planters upwards (12, 16 and
24 row). However, it was converted to a 6-row
configuration and three-point hitch attachment
with an additionally welded frame.”
(km/h) due to power constraints, but we accept that.
In total, these instances account for a maximum of
20 percent of our operations.”
Lauper followed the same approach with the precision
planter he has been using for planting corn
and other single-seed crops since 2017: The Exact-
Emerge made by John Deere is normally only available
from 8 rows upwards (12, 16, and 24 rows).
However, it was modified to a 6-row configuration
with a specially welded frame for three-point hitch
mounting.
“In Switzerland, we frequently change fields. The
average field size is 1.3 hectares,” explains the agricultural
technician. “I often have to switch varieties
from one customer to another, which means
emptying and refilling the seed hoppers. With our
setup, the setup times are significantly shorter with
Corn Planter: A Quick Overview
of Tools
Standing right next to the precision planter, Lauper
explains the tools from front to back: The first
set of discs is used to apply liquid or solid fertilizer
alongside the seed row. “The next part is specific
equipment for Conservation Agriculture, to remove
cover crops in front of the seed slot,” he explains.
The row clearers made by the US company Yetter
Farm Equipment, a pair of wheels with a corrugated
profile set at an angle to each other, are pneumatically
adjustable. They prevent the dreaded “hair
pinning” in no-till farming, in which the seed lies on
straw instead of fine soil, preventing germination.
“Then comes a pair of depth control wheels, at
which the required coulter pressure is measured,”
Lauper continues. This machine has automatic
coulter pressure regulation as a standard feature.
“Between the depth control wheels, there is the
seed shoe, and behind it is the liquid fertilizer delivery
tube into the seed slot. I prefer ammonium
polyphosphate with 10 units of nitrogen and 34
units of phosphorus (10-34 APP). Phosphorus is
important for root development in the starter fertilizer
application.”
PHOTOGRAPHS: LANDAG AG, CHRISTIAN DANY
10

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
Hanspeter Lauper on a field with the green manure mixture developed by Landag.
No-Till – Knowledge and Exchange of Experience
The canton of Bern is a stronghold of conservation tillage. It is home not only to pioneers
like the agronomist Wolfgang Sturny and the agricultural technician Hanspeter Lauper,
but also to numerous practitioners. The scene is led by Dr. Bernhard Streit from the Bern
University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (HAFL),
who has been conducting long-term no-till farming experiments. In 1995, the pioneers
established the Swiss No-Till Interest Group, which was later transformed into an association
in 2000. Swiss No Till promotes soil-friendly agriculture, provides information
on no-till practices, and facilitates the exchange of knowledge and information events
In June 2021, the community experienced a highlight when the 8th World Congress on
Conservation Agriculture took place in Bern with 780 participants both online and on-site.
Swiss No Till organized two field days as part of the congress. During the event, it was
announced that over 200 million hectares worldwide are being managed according to the
principles of Conservation Agriculture (as of 2019). Just over a decade ago, this number
was only 100 million hectares. In Europe, the share of Conservation Agriculture increased
from 4 percent to 16 percent during that time. The equivalent organization to Swiss No Till
in Germany is the Gesellschaft für Konservierende Bodenbearbeitung (GKB) e.V.
www.no-till.ch
www.gkb-ev.de
PERFECTLY
PERFECTLY
A LL. R U N S.
Lauper: “I’ve had many discussions with
fertilizer advisors who say there can be
burn issues. However, it’s important to
consider the salt content of the fertilizer.
If you have the right product, that won’t
happen, and you can strongly promote the
formation of roots. We place solid ammonium
fertilizer in front of the seed row. The
slightly V-shaped closing wheels at the very
back ultimately close the seed slot. That’s
the entire system.”
Green Manure is not Incorporated
Lauper and his colleagues do not apply
liquid manure or compost directly during
seeding: “We noticed excessive fertilization
here and have also had seed that was
burned,” says the company’s CEO. The
risk of burning may be lower with compost
compared to liquid manure, but he cannot
provide any definite information on this.
He also does not want to give specific
recommendations for biogas maize
11
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ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Installation of the automatic downforce control system by Precision Planting
on the self-designed drill machine: Manual depth adjustment is located at the
bottom right, and the connector for the pressure sensor is positioned at the top.
“Each row unit practically has its own small computer,” says Lauper.
Hydraulic lines on the self-built frame of the drill machine,
with the control block on the left providing the necessary
hydraulic pressure.
cultivation, but he emphasizes: “GPS harvesting is often
carried out for biogas production, removing everything.
That’s why it’s important to cultivate green manure.
Especially in maize cultivation, it’s important to
utilize the long fallow period to replenish the soil with
organic matter. If you want to build up the soil, you
need food for the earthworms. The difference to regenerative
agriculture is that we leave the green manure
on the surface and do not incorporate it, as it protects
the soil from erosion and drying out.”
Landag has developed its own green manure mixture
that is suitable for maize cultivation as well. “Sowing
mustard alone is not sufficient for the soil,” Lauper
says. The mixture costs 160 to 240 Swiss francs per
hectare and consists of four legume species, phacelia,
and buckwheat, an extremely vigorous aster species
(see picture). Summer or sand oats can be included
upon customer request. Summer oats are very cost-effective
seeds, and sand oats are believed to help control
wireworms.
Maize Cultivation: better cover crops
instead of undersowing
The Swiss farmer points to a field with green manuring,
pushes aside the tall plants, and immediately reveals
fine-crumbly soil with worm castings. When it comes
to corn, he recommends using only cover crops that
freeze, as corn does not tolerate competition in its ini-
PHOTOGRAPHS: LANDAG AG
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Obermarchtal • Tel +49(0)737

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
The Advantages of
Conservation Tillage
Consistent no-till farming, minimal soil disturbance, and continuous
soil cover improve soil structure and water management.
They ensure optimal nutrient supply and prevent nutrient
leaching. They protect against erosion, enhance topsoil
organic matter content, and promote carbon sequestration. In
addition, they reduce energy requirements and lower production
costs per unit area. Conservation tillage preserves soil
fertility, resulting in long-term stable yields.
Source: Swiss-No-Till-Guide
tial development phase. He prefers growing a cover crop
instead of a undersown crop because nurse crops can be
difficult to control: “Either they become too strong or too weak.”
“When less light reaches the ground, there is less weed pressure,”
Lauper says, highlighting another important function of green manuring.
“In maize cultivation, dry soil is important, and should be
at least 8 degrees Celsius. There is a bit of a contradiction here: If
you have abundant, good green manure, the soil doesn’t dry out as
quickly – and it doesn’t warm up as quickly either. The beneficial
effect of covering also has this disadvantageous effect. To avoid
using herbicides, we roll down the green manure if necessary
before sowing.”
On a trial field, the treatment with a disc roller between the rows
yielded good results. However, Lauper does not see no-till farming
as purely ideological. “With mulch seeding, you have rapid drying
at the time of sowing. With no-till farming, you may have to wait a
bit longer, and if it’s a wet spring, a pass with a soil cultivation implement
can be helpful. But it shouldn’t be too wet either. It’s always
a balance.” The soil may possibly also require loosen-
Lauper’s drill machine was
still in full operation for
sowing cover crops during the
on-site visit in mid-November.
No-till farming of grain:
The crumbly soil with a
significant amount of
earthworm castings can be
seen between the rows.
ents
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13

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Schematic illustration of the three share shapes:
Track of the
closing roller
Track of the
closing roller
Track of the
closing roller
tine share
disc share
cross slot share
loose soil
solid ground
Soil-straw mixture
straw
seed grain
smudging
Soute: SNT-Guide I: Conservation Agriculture 2019 (revised according to Köller and Linke 2001).
No-till farming of a
catch crop mixture
between the stubbles.
ing due to compaction. Lauper also
wants to acknowledge the disadvantages
of conservation tillage. Among
the animal pests, it is the larger ones that
pose more difficulties. “You have to keep the
snails under control, especially in sugar beets and
rapeseed,” says Lauper. “We control them with snail
pellets. Snails are also a problem in conventional farming,
but it tends to be more significant in our case.
Occasionally, we also have to deal with mice because
their burrows are not disturbed.” These animals need
to be controlled conventionally, using perches for birds
of prey and setting up traps. However, he has noticed
that there is a “mouse cycle” and excessive populations
eventually regulate themselves. “No-till farming works
more easily in combination with glyphosate,” admits
Lauper. In Switzerland, glyphosate is only allowed to be
used before sowing. He often says to farmers, “What’s
better: glyphosate or chopping up the earthworms with
“We must
not demonize
chemicals!”
Hanspeter Lauper
your tillage?” When faced with weed pressure, the question
arises, “Should I destroy the soil structure created
by cover crops through cultivation, or should I deal with
it using two liters of herbicide?” No-till farming means
soil and erosion protection. “Are we willing to give that
up because of the drawbacks of chemical weed control?”
he asks, and then promptly answers, “We must
not demonize chemicals!”
Implementing conservation tillage in organic farming
and in the event of a potential glyphosate ban is challenging.
Lauper points out the case of France, where
glyphosate was supposed to be banned from
2020 onwards, but the government later
allowed a few exceptions, including notill
farming. The conservation agriculture
community is quite open to this
“French solution”.
Problematic weeds are best controlled
through crop rotation: “If
I don’t till the soil, I need diverse
crop rotations.” Lauper recommends
planning a transition phase of seven
years when switching to conservation tillage.
This phase should be approached with
targeted crop rotation. It is also sensible to start by
eliminating plowing. “When it comes to seeding, you
can begin gradually or on a plot-by-plot basis through
mulch seeding,” he advises. Patience and composure
are also essential qualities in this process.
Author
Christian Dany
Freelance Journalist
Gablonzer Str. 21 · 86807 Buchloe
00 49 82 41/911 403
christian.dany@web.de
PHOTOGRAPH: LANDAG AG
14

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
12. – 14.12.2023 IN NUREMBERG
BIOGAS Convention & Trade Fair 2023
12.– 14. Dezember 2023, Nürnberg
What does the future hold for
biogas worldwide?
After four years, the BIOGAS Convention & Trade Fair will be held live again in Nuremberg from December 12th
to 14th, 2023, featuring both the conference and the trade fair. The transition of the energy supply to renewable
sources and the uncertainties surrounding future political regulations pose significant challenges for the industry,
not only in Germany but also worldwide. However, amidst these challenges, there are also opportunities!
Never has biogas been so competitive and in demand in the energy markets as it is today. There is a huge need
for information. Staying constantly up to date is the key to securing the most favorable economic position in an
exceedingly volatile industry.
Opening hours Trade Fair:
f December 12, 2023: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
f December 13, 2023: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
f December 14, 2023: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Online discount for trade fair tickets. Members
of the Biogas Association and DLG have
free access to the trade fair. Early bird discount
available for registrations by Friday,
October 15, 2023. Conference participants
from DAC countries qualify for a reduced rate.
Information & Ticket Shop:
www.biogas-convention.com
The BIOGAS Convention & Trade
Fair 2023 starts at 9:00 a.m.
on Tuesday, 12 December 2023
with the trade fair. Over 200
companies from more than 10
countries have registered, the range of exhibitors
thus covers all the facets of the biogas
industry. From planning and construction
to optimization, flexibility, and efficient
operations management, visitors to the trade
fair will find tailored solutions to meet their
individual needs. A standout feature, as in
every year, is the presentation of new and
enhanced product offerings and services.
The opening is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
in hall 9 at the BIOGAS Expert Forum.
Throughout the entire duration of the trade
fair, visitors will have the opportunity to participate
in enlightening discussions, as exhibiting
companies provide complimentary
expert presentations at the BIOGAS Expert
Forum on all three days. Emphasizing key
areas such as the “Biomethane Forum,” the
“Fuel Forum” the “Substrate Forum” and
the “Future Forum” these talks will be simultaneously
translated into English (either
through oral translation or transcription).
The programme of the BIOGAS Convention
will also begin on Tuesday 12 December
starting at 10:30 a.m. with the international
programme (lectures in English). Following
an update on the EU policy perspectives
for the biogas sector, the inaugural panel
will explore a trending topic: Biomethane.
The goals and outcomes of biomethane production
within the scope of industrial partnerships
will be presented. The subsequent
presentation will explain the impact of the
transformation of the European electricity
market towards renewable energies, as discussed
in the context of the new European
electricity market design.
The programme boasts a renewed inclusion
of field reports and discussions on
innovations, which are highly sought after
by the international audience. The second
panel will commence with a presentation
by Reverion, an innovative start-up that
demonstrates how “reversible fuel cells in
biogas plants can enhance efficiency and
yield”. Yet, the potential of biogas extends
even further: it can play a pivotal role in
“soil regeneration and carbon sequestration”.
The closing panel will feature representatives
from the ISO TC 255 group, underscoring
the significance of establishing
consistent global standards. The day will
conclude with looking at how the German
government assists developing countries in
implementing their goals through support
programmes and financing solutions.
Presentations in German (without translation)
will then follow on Wednesday 13 December
and Thursday 14 December under
the key topics “All-rounder Biogas – Where
are you headed?”, “Biogas plants as a
source of green gases” and “Biogas is more
than electricity”. Details of the German
programme can be found in the catalog or
at www.biogas-convention.com.
The popular evening event will take place
at the NCC Mitte of NürnbergMesse on
Wednesday, December 12, 2023, starting
at 7:00 PM. This event provides a platform
for visitors, exhibitors, and speakers to
meet and exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere.
The end of the fair is traditionally
marked by an international excursion to
two biogas facilities in the Nuremberg region,
which will take place one day after the
BIOGAS Convention & Trade Fair (Friday,
December 15, 2023). The tour will include
simultaneous English translation.
The current programme and exhibitor overview
of the BIOGAS Convention & Trade
Fair 2023 can be found at www.biogas-convention.com.
Tickets can be conveniently
booked online through the ticket shop on
the website (early bird discount available
until October 15, 2023).
15

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
There is no need
to search for earthworms
for long on
the no-till farming
fields of the Demsin
agricultural company.
Up to 400 of these
diligent soil aerators
can be found in one
cubic meter of soil.
Keeping every
Drop of Rain
in the Soil
The introduction of no-till farming unveils
new opportunities for the agrarian enterprise
Demsin to sustainably enhance operational
results on loamy soils: Farmers now
want to fully exploit this trump card.
Author: Dipl.-Journ. Wolfgang Rudolph
Has the field already been tilled? Christian
Rohne, Managing Director of the agricultural
enterprise Demsin, often hears this
question when he stands with visitors at
the edge of the field. And really, you have
to look closely to discern the rows of delicate light
green shoots pushing through the carpet of withered
remnants of volunteer oilseed rape, volunteer barley,
and shredded corn on this late autumn day in 2022.
To all appearances, it will be a field of grain like any
other in the region, at least until after the harvest. Unlike
most surrounding stubble fields, however, a catch
crop mixture, sown directly on the day of harvest, will
soon penetrate through the mulch layer that has now
grown with an additional plant component. It provides
a water-conserving cover and assumes other agronomic
tasks, such as loosening the soil, preserving nutrients,
and the biological fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by
legumes. Without any additional intermediate work, an
employee will then sow corn directly into the plants,
which will undoubtedly be frozen after this winter.
Earthworms and Co. as Helpful
Collaborators
The field is among the company’s initial areas transitioned
to no-till farming. So, the mulch layer contains
plant residues from crop rotation dating back to 2018.
“It looks more like fallow land. Even for me, it took
some getting used to,” admits Rohne. However, the collaborators,
of whom the company has thousands “under
contract” seem unfazed by the mix of organic matter
and crops – the earthworms. “On the contrary, they really
feel at home here,” says Rohne, who has a degree
in agriculture (MSc.), as he pushes the blade of a spade
effortlessly into the loose but stable soil of the wheat
field with his foot. After a brief search in the excavated
clump of soil, several diligent soil aerators are found.
“At this location, there are an estimated 200 earthworms
per cubic meter of soil,” Rohne says, adding
that a healthy acre of farmland houses a total of about
7 tons of soil organisms. The microorganisms, worms,
and insects form humus from the layer of dead plant
residues on the surface, aiding the plants in nutrient
uptake through symbiotic relationships in the root zone.
However, the no-till farming operation knows by experience
that it will take several years for such a benefi-
PHOTOGRAPHS: CARMEN RUDOLPH
16

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
Managing director Christian Rohne is pleased to note the
soil improvement through humus build-up on the directly
tilled areas.
All the essential settings for seeding, such as automatic
depth control or the application of multiple seeds and fertilizers,
are made via the 7-inch monitor.
cial balance to establish itself. “The soil needs some
time to adjust,” says Rohne. Reduced yields have to
be expected in the first two years, mainly because of
initially higher weed pressure and compaction caused
by vehicle tracks from previous silage corn harvests.
On the other hand, the cost reduction resulting from
the elimination of all tillage operations has had a positive
effect right from the start. The expected yields will
eventually be achieved with consistent no-till farming
and the accompanying increase in biological soil activity.
In addition, overall soil
resilience will improve,
especially during wet
weather conditions or
“The soil
needs some time
to adjust”
Christian Rohne
after heavy rainfalls.
Currently, no-till farming is being applied in cultivating
60% of all crop fields. The goal is to reach 100%
by 2024. “In this process, we first take a closer look
at each field, remove vehicle tracks with a cultivator,
and potentially level certain areas. The transition to notill
farming begins with sowing corn into a catch crop
mixture,” says Rohne when describing the conversion
process.
The reason for the farmers’ cautious approach to no-till
farming and to expanding it field by field is also related
to the recent history of the company. The agricultural
enterprise Demsin GmbH underwent significant structural
changes last year. The most visible expression of
this turning point is the abandoned barns at the company’s
headquarters in Kleindemsin, Saxony-An-
Demonstration of
no-till sowing of
winter wheat into
a harvested corn
field by the
T-ForcePlus 650.
17

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
For Christian Rohne,
managing director
of the agricultural
company Demsin,
and employee Jan
Brückner, the Novag
T-ForcePlus 650 is
the key machine in
agriculture.
“The profitability of
milk production was
steadily declining. Therefore,
we decided to discontinue
livestock farming”
Karl-Heinz Jäger
Karl-Heinz Jäger has
transformed the former
LPG into a GmbH
(limited liability
company) and shares
the management with
Christian Rohne.
halt. Until spring 2022, these buildings housed 170
dairy cows. “The profitability of milk production was
steadily declining. Therefore, we decided to discontinue
livestock farming. In May, the last of the animals
were taken off the farm,” explains 69-year-old Karl-
Heinz Jäger. He is in the process of handing
over the management of the operation
to Christian Rohne, who already
acts as the managing director
and makes all the agricultural
decisions.
Despite discontinuing
dairy farming, the agricultural
company in Kleindemsin is not solely focused
on cash crops. It still has an important source of revenue
through the production and direct marketing of
electricity and heat. The biogas plant indispensable
for this purpose went into operation in 2007, initially
with a CHP unit (537 kW e
). The first expansion took
place in 2010 with the construction of an energy station,
including satellite cogeneration units (250 kW e
)
and a heat distribution container. It is connected to the
biogas plant located approximately 500 meters away
via gas and heat pipelines. This precautionary measure
ensures the continuous supply of heat to 48 residential
units, as well as the kindergarten, community center,
and fire department in Kleinwusterwitz, all of which
are connected to the station through an underground
district heating grid.
The efficiency of the biogas plant was further improved
by commissioning the drying system in 2015 by utilizing
the heat bonus. Contract drying, which is in good
demand, also boosts revenue. In 2018/19, the operator
took advantage of the flexibilization program to make
further investments. As part of this program, a cogeneration
unit with a capacity of 350 kW e
and 530 kW e
was added at both the satellite site and the main plant
location, in addition to the existing units.
Conserve soil water
In crop production, the farmers in Kleindemsin cultivate
approximately 900 hectares of arable land and
350 hectares of meadows. Market crops include maize,
cereals, rapeseed, and occasionally peas, lupins, and
faba beans to diversify the crop rotation. The decision
to adopt no-till cultivation for over 16 years to reduce
18

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
evaporation losses was caused by difficult
production conditions. These conditions
are marked by light soils and low average
soil values of around 40 base saturation
percentage (BP) and below-average rainfall
amounts, averaging 470 mm.
In dry years, the rainfall can even drop to
as low as 300 mm. The negative impacts
of the rainfall deficit are exacerbated by
pronounced pre-summer drought. “This
was evident even in an otherwise average
year like 2022. The yields of barley and
rapeseed were reasonably good by our
standards. However, the wheat harvest was
disappointing, with only 5 tons per hectare,
as the dry period coincided exactly with the
grain filling phase,” explains Rohne.
The top priority is to retain every drop of
water that comes down in the soil! Initially,
one approach was seen in providing continuous
cover and shading of the surface
through the cultivation of catch crops immediately
after the main crop. “For this
purpose, we set the discs of the preceding
disc harrow slightly lower on our longutilized
Horsch Pronto seeder, allowing the
seeding units to plant a catch crop mixture
directly into the cereal stubble,”
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The sowing coulters (blades) that are angled at the end are located to the right and left of
the serrated cutting disc of the sowing unit. The seed or fertilizer is placed over them.
View more
information !
The serrated cutting disc of the seed rag runs 6 cm below the T-SlotPlus coulters
mounted on both sides for placement in a horizontal slot.
19
www.stallkamp.de

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
The most important function of the 575 mm
cutting disc is to safely cut through the mulch
overlay without moving the soil.
Sensors on the pressure rollers provide the data for
setting the necessary coulter pressure.
says the 38-year-old. However, the preceding tool transported
the volunteer grains into the optimal germination
zone. As a result, it emerged as consistently well as
the cover crops did. “I didn’t like that at all, especially
considering that any soil tillage results in water evaporation
of up to 15 mm,” says Rohne when talking about
the past failure.
Impressive demonstration of Novag
T-ForcePlus
The farm manager now had a clear idea of what he
wanted: He wanted the seed to be placed at the optimal
depth without disturbing the soil, while the remaining
volunteer seeds on the surface would dry out or mold,
depending on weather conditions. However, if some of
the volunteer oilseed rape still managed to germinate,
for example, the more advanced directly sown catch
crops would prevent their further development.
The solution Rohne found, which not only practically
eliminates evaporation losses through continuous surface
coverage but also does not disturb soil life, is the T-
ForcePlus trailed cross-slot seeder made by the French
manufacturer Novag SAS. Product managers from the
company, which was founded as a startup in Fressines,
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20

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
ENGLISH ISSUE
Western France, and has operated a branch in Hannover
since 2022, demonstrated the no-till farming
method of catch crops in cereal and rapeseed stubble
in Kleindemsin.
In the no-till farming process referred to by the manufacturer
as T-SlotPlus, a vertically positioned toothed
disc cuts into the soil surface. Positioned closely on
both sides of the 575 mm cutting disc are the seed
openers, known as blades. These blades are angled outward
at 90 degrees at their ends, forming an inverted
“T” shape. The seed or fertilizer is placed separately on
both sides of the cutting disc through the angled ends
of the seed openers, which move horizontally in the soil
at the set depth.
This allows, for example, approximately 90% of the surface
straw to remain undisturbed when sowing catch
crops in cereal stubble, even at high driving speeds.
The two V-shaped press wheels immediately behind the
discs close the horizontal slot of the angled seed openers.
In addition, the press wheels house the sensors for
the “IntelliForcePlus” depth control system developed
by Novag, which is integrated as a standard feature. The
sensors measure the force required to close the seed slot
and transmit the values to the software on the 7-inch
monitor for operating the seeder in the tractor cabin.
Based on this information, the system calculates the
necessary pressure for each individual T-SlotPlus opener
to maintain the set seed placement depth (e.g., 3 cm
for winter wheat) and generates this pressure through
hydraulic cylinders on the parallelograms of the seed
units. Each seed opener can exert a pressure of up to
500 kg with a vertical stroke of 450 mm. According to
Novag, the automatic depth control of the individual
openers ensures a consistent sowing depth even in
compacted and varying soil types.
The farm has been using fixed lanes for three years both for nutrient
applications and for crop protection in the crops using a sprayer with a
working width of 30 m.
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21

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Accumulated wheat after no-till sowing into a harvested maize field.
On the day of sowing, a knife roller ran at the front of the tractor to
control the maize borer.
The mulch layer of the previous crop, winter wheat, can be seen under
the rapeseed plants, which are already well developed by mid-October.
Direct seeding machine enables
new sowing variants
The technical details and the results of the demonstration
impressed the farm manager. At the turn of
2018/19, the agricultural company ordered a Novag T-
ForcePlus 650 with a working width of 6 meters and 24
T-SlotPlus seeding units with a row spacing
of 25 cm, for a price of 180,000 euros
at that time. For a row spacing of
50 cm, every second plow unit is
deactivated, and for a spacing
of 75 cm, two adjacent units
are turned off.
The 12-ton heavy Novag is
pulled by a 370 horsepower
John Deere 8370 R. During
no-till seeding of cereals into
corn stubble, a front disc roller
is operated on this tractor. It
bends, crushes, and shreds the
stumps of harvested corn plants to
prevent overwintering of the corn borer.
After the silage corn harvest, the field is
reseeded in a single operation.
The thickness of the organic matter layer practically has
no effect on the pressure gradually exerted on the seeding
units and, consequently, on the cutting disc located
“Once you start
no-till farming and
immerse yourself in the
different sowing variations, you
want to keep trying more”
Christian Rohne
6 cm below the seeding blades. This has encouraged
Rohne to experiment and try the option of dividing the
5,400-liter capacity of the seeding machine’s hopper
into up to four individual tanks for seed and fertilizer.
Both can be placed in the soil using a hydraulic dosing
system through the two individually height-adjustable
angled blades (T-SlotPlus seeding units) on
each of the 12 units of the front and rear
seeding rails. This allows for simultaneous
application of two different
crops, as well as fertilizer
and slug pellets. Particularly
in no-till farming systems,
targeted starter fertilization
prevents nitrogen deficiency
during the early growth stages.
Reason: The conversion
of organic substances into
plant-available nutrients takes
time, especially at low temperatures
in spring.
“Once you start no-till farming and immerse
yourself in the different sowing variations,
you want to keep trying more,” says Rohne. As
an example, he mentions intercropping field beans,
peas, and lupins with rapeseed, as well as the introducing
sunflower crops, which have become quite profit-
22

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
able, on particularly light soils that otherwise only allow
for the economic cultivation of maize and rye.
“Furthermore, I can concentrate more on the agronomic
advantages when designing the crop rotation and don’t
have to consider any organizational processes,” emphasizes
the farmer. For example, it is common practice to
cultivate winter barley as a preceding crop before winter
rapeseed, simply to have enough time to control volunteer
grains. This aspect is no longer relevant. Winter
wheat can now also act as a preceding crop.
Immediately after the harvest, rapeseed can be sown
into the stubble, which suppresses the germination of
volunteer grains through its rapid canopy development.
Rohne demonstrates the success of this approach in
a rapeseed field that was established five days after
the winter wheat harvest using the Novag machine. He
pushes some of the well-developed plants apart with his
hands to reveal a thick straw mat underneath.
The impending ban on total herbicides is a cause for
concern to the operations manager. Glyphosate is
usually indispensable for promoting the main crop,
especially on larger farm areas and because of the increasingly
mild winters. “In the discussion, it is often
overlooked that, for example, when using glyphosate
in no-till farming of grain in autumn, I don’t have to
apply any herbicide,” says Rohne, who hopes
Farmer Christian Rohne is satisfied with the pre-winter development
of the winter oilseed rape that is sown straight after
the grain. In the background, the satellite combined heat and
power plant (CHP) can be seen.
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23
Knowledge in motion

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
In the most recent
modernization step, the
biogas plant, here the
digester and secondary
digester, was equipped
with an energy-saving
liquid dosing unit (front),
among other things.
that glyphosate will remain allowed for notill
farming or that an equivalent chemical
alternative will be available in case of a
general ban.
At the end of the visit, the farm manager
presents a 15-hectare field with partially
waist-high catch crops consisting of phacelia,
sunflowers, lupines, pelushken, alexandrian
clover, winter vetch, ramtil herb,
sudangrass, field beans, oilseed radish, linseed,
serradella, and false flax. The mixture
he made up himself was sown on August
5th 2022 and benefited from heavy rainfall
at the end of August. Now, on October 13th
in 2022, the field that is so rich in species
is buzzing and humming with activity. The
field will be incorporated into no-till acres
starting next year by sowing corn with the
Novag T-ForcePlus 650.
Well-developed catch crops with a variety
of plant species. This field will be incorporated
into no-till farming in the spring
of 2023 by sowing corn with the Novag
T-ForcePlus 650.
Employee Jan Brückner from the Demsin
agricultural company has already had
experience using the T-ForcePlus 650 direct
seed drill from Novag.
Author
Dipl.-Journ. Wolfgang Rudolph
Freelance Journalist
info@rudolph-reportagen.de
www.rudolph-reportagen.de
24

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
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25

ENGLISH ISSUE
Strip-tillage Moves Less Soil
and Reduces Water Evaporation
The severity of water scarcity on arable land during the dry phases between spring and fall,
caused by climatic conditions, has escalated since 2018. The small amount of precipitation
usually peters out due to high evaporation. That is why farmers and contractors are
seeking solutions in cultivation systems, specifically for maize, to preserve soil water and
maximize its availability to the crop.
Author: Dipl.-Ing. agr. (FH) Martin Bensmann
The region of Nordvelen, located in the western
Münsterland within the Borken district
of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), is renowned
for its robust agricultural character.
This location serves as the operational base
for Christoph Hante and his agricultural contracting
business. Challenges arise in achieving optimal yields
due to the sandy soils’ low water-holding capacity and
acreage ranging between 17 and 35. While the average
precipitation in the past years has been around 730
liters per square meter, recent years have witnessed a
reversal in the typical rainfall patterns. If it fails to rain,
the impact on harvest yields is dramatic. The average
annual temperature over the past five years has been
11.25 degrees centigrade. In addition to the contracting
business, Hante also runs his own farm, which is
located in the water conservation area. “We have had a
close working relationship with the waterworks for some
time now. Right from the start, the objective was to
minimize nutrient application while maximizing nutrient
efficiency, aiming to safeguard groundwater from
excessive nutrient inputs,” Christoph Hante explains.
With this in mind, in 2012 he acquired his first striptill
machine, a six-row Striger, from the manufacturer
Kuhn. In the so-called strip-till process, only the seed
row is tilled. The area between the rows remains uncultivated.
It is covered by crop residues. With a space of
75 centimeters between the rows, 80 percent of the
PHOTOGRAPH: HANTE AGRARSERVICE GMBH
26

PHOTOGRAPHS: JOHN DEERE
Fertilizer shank, which was also
modified by Hante, as mentioned in
the text box, with serrated concave
discs on the left and right sides.
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
soil is not tilled at all. Manure or fermented
manure is deposited at a certain depth in
the tilled area of the soil. The advantage of
untilled strips: Soil moisture is preserved,
there are fewer weeds, more intensive biological
activity in the soil and lower machine
costs.
The rows in strip-tillage are tracked using
satellite navigation technology. By utilizing
the data generated through this process,
the subsequent corn-laying tractor
can accurately deposit the corn directly in
the prepared strips, using Real-Time Kinematic
(RTK) signals. In geodesy, RTK is
a satellite navigation method that enables
precise determination of position coordinates.
In 2015, Hante acquired a second slurry
tanker with a strip-till unit and in 2017, a
third Striger with a slurry tanker. “All three
units have eight rows. We converted all the
strip-till units and customized them to suit
our specific conditions, resulting in their
excellent performance across various locations
and facilitating easy conversion, so
that they are perfectly adjusted to each location.
For example, we have replaced the
v-shaped star scrapers that are supposed
to clear biomass from the row to be processed.
For instance, the factory-mounted
scrapers proved ineffective when dealing
with wet mustard. We mounted a unit we
developed ourselves and it now works better.
We also changed the bearings with a
brand made by a different manufacturer. In
addition, we have implemented specially
welded scrapers to prevent the star clearers
from carrying away biomass and soil,”
Hante reveals.
Hante Agrarservice GmbH has also developed
strip-till tines, designed to effectively
loosen the soil and facilitate the incorporation
of liquid farm manure into the
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ENGLISH ISSUE
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of no-till farming.
27
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ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
How the Kuhn Striger Works at Hante Agrarservice
At the front, the unit is supported on multiple
car tires. In each segment, a wave disc with a
diameter of 45 centimeters cuts a deep slot in
the ground. The wave discs are tensioned by
springs. Behind them, at a slight distance, are
the newly designed star clearers by Hante, with
modified bearings and non-standard scrapers.
They clear biomass from the row to ensure
smooth operation of the fertilizer shank.
The fertilizer shank can be adjusted to any height
without tools. It is also an in-house development
by Hante. It breaks up the seed row and loosens
the soil for better root development. The fertilizer
coulters are mounted behind the shank. Two fertilizer
bands that are approximately at the same
height are deposited. However, they are strongly
pulled apart in the soil by the “deflector plate”.
One-third of the application quantity is applied
from the lower tube, and two-thirds from the upper
tube. In the case of the upper tube, the liquid
manure falls onto a flat iron (deflector plate),
resulting in a wider application.
No fertilizer sausage is deposited. “Due to
the flat, wide distribution, no voids are created
later when the fertilizer depot is depleted.
Voids would be unfavorable because we have
found that the ammonium roots that grow into
them later hang in the air when the depot is
consumed,” emphasizes Wiesmann. The flow of
liquid manure can be interrupted at the shank.
For this purpose, a rubber closure is pressurized
with air, closing the tubes. All the strip-till
bodies are suspended in a parallelogram and
can be loaded or relieved by hydraulic cylinders,
depending on the prevailing soil conditions.
Toothed concave discs with a diameter of 53
centimeters are mounted on the sides, both
left and right of the fertilizer shank – similar
to a disc harrow – which can be adjusted in
different directions to direct the opened soil
within the strip-till row. They also generate a
certain amount of fine soil. Pressure rollers are
installed at the end of the strip-till segment,
behind the fertilizer shank. These are open steel
finger rollers that reconsolidate the soil and
produce some fine soil in the process. A spring
tensioning device applies the necessary pressure
to the roller.
ground. “We had them drawn and lasered, and they can
now be easily adjusted to different heights without the
need for tools, which saves a lot of work,” Christoph
Hante says. Ensuring the performance of the units under
various conditions is crucial for him. He is pleased
to say that the first strip-till unit had to be given a general
overhaul only after 10 years of operation.
Increased Support Wheels and Upgraded
Folding Mechanism
Other technical adjustments included mounting more
support wheels. Besides that, the row layout was altered
specifically for the eight-row units. Two rows are
folded on the left and three on the right. The space
between the rows is 75 centimeters. The Striger equipment
is towed in a laterally offset position behind the
slurry tankers. Thus, the tires of the tractors and the
slurry tankers roll between the rows. This helps prevent
rows from compacting and slurry from being pushed
out, possibly even to the surface. Furthermore, it is
common practice not to drive over the rows when planting
corn, “as doing so may negatively impact the emergence
of the crop. This approach has allowed us to earn
significant appreciation from our valued customers,”
explains Hante.
This year, the Hante team utilized the strip-tilling method
on around 1,300 hectares. Liquid manure is not only
applied around the site in an emission-reducing and
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BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
PHOTOGRAPH: MARTIN BENSMANN
nutrient-efficient manner. For four years now,
the company has also been operating in Lower
Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
and Brandenburg. “We went to Brandenburg
because my uncle operates a biogas plant
there. He has contracts with some other
farmers, who supply maize. As we recognized
local demand for such a system and
because services like that were not available,
we took the initiative to fill this gap,” reveals
Christoph Hante.
In 1995, Christoph’s father Heinrich, his grandfather
Wilhelm and his uncle Josef founded Hante
Agrarservice GmbH. Later, Christoph’s father and
grandfather continued the contracting business alone –
on their own farm, on their mother”s farm and on neighboring
farms. From 2001 to 2003, Christoph completed
agricultural apprenticeship. In 2006 and 2007
he studied agricultural business management and in
2007 he joined the contracting company, which in the
meantime was being managed by his father alone.
“In 2019, I took over both the farm and the contracting
business. In the past, we used to raise fattening pigs on
our farm as well. However, we decided to discontinue
this aspect of our operation due to the substantial investment
required to meet the new legal regulations
concerning animal husbandry,” Christoph Hante said.
In 2021, he decided to divide the farm, dedicating 27
hectares to organic farming along the guidelines of
the Bioland farming association, while the remaining
25 hectares are managed conventionally. One of the
main reasons to divide the farm for organic farming was
the nearby cow farm’s successful transition to organic
farming. This collaboration enabled him to establish a
nutrient cooperation with it, since he operates a livestock-free
farm. “Another reason for dividing the farm
“We converted all the
strip-till units and customized
them to suit our specific conditions,
resulting in their excellent performance
across various locations and
facilitating easy conversion”
Christoph Hante
was that we started dealing with
the system of so-called regenerative
agriculture. Our primary
objective is to prioritize soil
health and fertility in our management
practices, particularly
through the implementation of
consistent intercropping using
diverse seed mixtures,” Hante
continues.
Crop Farming: Conventional Practices
Causing Resource Depletion
“We no longer sow catch crops after cereals in the summer
because the plant populations use up excessive
amounts of water and nutrients, which adversely affects
the growth conditions of the subsequent main crop. I
believe that we can currently economically present the
system in organic farming at least as well as in conventional
agriculture. However, we are also aware that we
need to make some changes in our conventional
Christoph Hante (left)
and Christian Wiesmann
at the Striger
manure strip-till unit
made by Kuhn.
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29

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Star wheel clearers developed by the contractor
Hante with modified bearings and biomass
scrapers, which are not supplied by the manufacturer.
Corrugated cutting disc that slices the soil
before the fertilizer shank.
Fertilizer shank, which was also modified by
Hante, as mentioned in the text box, with serrated
concave discs on the left and right sides.
branch. I think that in terms of soil structure, soil fertility,
and organic matter, we need to adopt a resourcedepleting
approach,” explains Christian Wiesmann
self-critically, who is responsible for consulting, sales,
and digitalization in the company.
In the organic sector, networking and professional exchange
among peers work better than in conventional
agriculture, Wiesmann acknowledges. He is a strong
advocate of regenerative agricultural systems. According
to him, compost tea or enzymes are not used.
“We have recently taken soil samples and had them
analyzed using the Kinsey method. We now need to
adjust our fertilization practices to bring the nutrient
balance into the right proportions. Currently, we started
adding calcium to the soil,” Wiesmann reveals. In the
organic fields, this year’s maize was sown using the
mulch seeding technique. The preceding crop was a
hardy catch crop, which was incorporated into the soil
using a heavy disc harrow at a shallow depth of 5 to 6
centimeters.
Shallow Step Using the Treffler Cultivator
A few days later, the fields were cultivated at a shallow
depth of 3 centimeters using the Treffler cultivator.
This cultivator is a special development originating
from organic farming. It ensures that the plants are all
uniformly cut and dried out, creating a favorable seedbed.
Next, the strip-till method is applied. The liquid
manure band is placed approximately 12 centimeters
below the soil surface. There is a distance of around 7
centimeters between the maize seeds and the liquid
manure band.
“We can loosen the soil up to a depth of 24 centimeters,
which enables us to apply the liquid manure band
at a deeper level, depending on the desired amount
of liquid fertilizer,” says Wiesmann when describing
the process. After the strip-till operation, the maize
seeding is done. For this purpose, two eight-row maize
planters from Kuhn and one from John Deere (1725
NT) are available. Detailed technical information on
the maize planters can be found on the manufacturers’
websites on the internet.
The maize planters can be positioned on the threepoint
hitch using self-designed sliding frames, allowing
the tractor tires to roll between the strip-till rows
while ensuring that the planter is accurately aligned
with the rows. In 2023, the Kuhn maize planters will
be replaced by the acquisition of an additional John
Deere machine.
John Deere Maize Planter for No-Till
Farming
Maize is planted on a total of 1,800 hectares. “Although
the John Deere maize planter is heavy, it stands
out for its accurate seed placement and excellent field
emergence. In addition, compared to the Kuhn equipment
with the 1725 NT, we save almost 2 liters of fuel
per hectare,” emphasizes Hante. Wiesmann adds,
“With the John Deere maize planter, we can also do
direct-seeding, which improves our operational flexibility.
Of course, in regions where liquid fertilizer needs
to be deposited beneath the maize, no-till farming is
not applicable, but overall, my crop farming philosophy
tends more towards the no-till approach.”
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTIN BENSMANN
30

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
Left: Pressure rollers behind
the fertilizer shank: These
are open steel finger rollers
that recompact the soil and
produce some fine soil in
the process.
Right: View of a strip-till
segment.
He is convinced that with no-till farming,
both economically and ecologically, more
can be gained than lost after a period of
transition. For Wiesmann, it is clear that
“the soils become more resilient, there is
less evaporation of soil water, infiltration
capacity increases, soil structure improves,
and the weed spectrum changes, which becomes
significant in light of increasingly
restrictive pesticide regulations.” And to a
certain extent, even on sandy soils, organic
matter content can be improved.
Author
Dipl.-Ing. agr. (FH) Martin Bensmann
Editor Biogas Journal
German Biogas Association
00 49 54 09/90 69 426
martin.bensmann@biogas.org
www.biogas.org
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31

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
The meadow grass
fibers are mixed with
the plastic granules
in the highest possible
concentration to minimize
the ecological footprint
of the end product.
Meadow Grass, Biogas
and Bioplastics
An innovative combination for a biogas plant is provided by the production facility of
Biowert Industrie GmbH in Brensbach, located in the Odenwald region (Hesse). The
company primarily focuses on the production of natural fiber-reinforced plastics, which
can contribute to decarbonization.
Author: Dipl. Geographer Martin Frey
The slopes of the Gersprenz Valley in the
northern Odenwald region are marked by
vast meadows. On the outskirts of Brensbach,
there is an innovative factory that processes
meadow grass and is powered by one
of the largest biogas plants in Hesse, generating electricity
and heat. In turn, the biogas plant utilizes the
residual materials generated from the grass processing.
The concept behind this idea is the “biorefinery”: The
company aims to make the plastics industry independent
of petroleum by using renewable resources. This
could open up a huge market that is likely to gain even
more momentum due to the currently skyrocketing fossil
energy prices. However, there is still a lot of pioneering
work to be done, and industry giants have not yet
shown interest. “We haven’t attracted the attention of
the major chemical industry yet,” says Managing Director
Jens Meyer zu Drewer during a visit to the site.
Successful Relaunch
The company’s history dates back approximately 15
years. Even back then, its goal was to develop a starting
material for thermal insulation materials and plastic
products from meadow grass. This led to a small
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTIN FREY
32

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
“Many designers even
say that the grass content has
to be visible so that you
can experience sustainability”
Jens Meyer zu Drewer
Biowert Industrie GmbH
in the Odenwald region uses
grass as a source material for
a whole range of products.
range of products, from spoons to decking, which
were also marketed on a small scale. When one of the
founders died suddenly in 2019, it was time to make
a fresh start.
The company had to be reorganized, discontinuing the
distribution of end products and focusing on the industrial
customer business. Its new managing director,
Jens Meyer zu Drewer, who joined the company in
2021, brought in experience from the plastics processing
industry. The company now employs 14 people in
Brensbach. “With this, we have achieved a good starting
position to further expand the business,” says the
managing director. For the past nine months, the company
has been gaining momentum: A new production
building has been constructed where the main product,
a grass-based plastic granulate, is manufactured. An
investment of 1.5 million euros was made for this purpose.
As a result, the capacity has quadrupled and now
produces approximately 400 tons of the AGRIPLAST
per year. A further fourfold increase is expected to be
achieved in three years.
In the neighboring town of Groß-Bieberau, an exhibition
space has been set up to showcase the full range
of products made from the grass-based plastic. Customers
of the granulate include plastic injection molding
manufacturers from all over Germany. One of the
first customers is Cortec from Wald-Michelbach, which
produces clothes hangers that are used, among other
places, in a large drugstore chain. The exhibition also
features stackable boxes, in-wall boxes, computer keyboards,
and PC mice.Meyer zu Drewer also sees further
growth potential in the consumer goods industry, such
as in handles for hardware or products from toy manufacturers.
However, suppliers to the automotive industry
may be even more important: “Pilot series
are already underway there, and there is a
great deal of interest,” says the managing
director. The more important the concept
of sustainability becomes, the better the
market for such products is expected to
perform. The fact that the bioplastic feels
more natural and that the fiber structures
can still be recognized is increasingly seen
as an advantage: “Many designers even say
that the grass content has to be visible so that
you can experience sustainability,” reports the managing
director in sales discussions.
The granules are made from recycled polypropylene,
to which varying amounts of grass are added. The
base product has a fiber content of 40 percent. For
some products, such as decking boards, this can be
increased to 75 percent. The polypropylene that is used
comes from the medical technology sector, where it has
undergone only one processing step and is pure in its
composition.
Thus, a pure secondary raw material is used, which –
like meadow grass – is “already at the earth’s surface”
and helps to gradually reduce the petrochemical footprint.
Not only does the mixed plastic have to be pure,
it also has to have a certain flowability in order to be optimally
processed in injection molding plants. The plastic
can also be colored, further expanding its range of
applications. Very good rigidity is of great importance in
many products, such as tool cases and technical parts.
Potential for a 60% Decrease
in CO 2
Emissions
Use of the new product is not only an image factor
for plastic producers, it can also be quantified for its
contribution to climate protection: Experts report that
bioplastic currently enables more than a 60 percent
reduction in CO 2
emissions. The recycling material is
expected to be sufficiently available for this pur-
The bioplastic can be
dyed in various colors,
which, according to
Managing Director
Jens Meyer zu Drewer,
increases its range of
applications.
33

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Flush-mounted boxes made of bioplastic. The fibers made from
meadow grass exemplify the ecological component of the product.
Clothes hangers for the branches of a large German drugstore chain
contain the bioplastics from the Odenwald region.
The Managing
Director Jens Meyer
zu Drewer (right) and
technical co-worker
Nils Münch with the
plastic granules.
pose. Meyer zu Drewer estimates the plastic market in
Germany at 14 to 15 million tons annually, of which the
recycling share or material recycling amounts to only
about 3 million tons.
The company can produce a wide range of additional
products from the grass refining plant and biogas plant.
In addition to the plastic made from the grass, marketed
under the name AGRIPLAST, it also produces
the liquid fertilizer AGRIFER. This fertilizer has an advantage
over mineral fertilizers, especially in periods of
drought, as it makes the nutrients directly available to
the plants. A fiber insulation material, AGRICELL, is
supplied to manufacturers of insulation mats. However,
it could also be used as loose fill or blown-in insulation.
Harvesting Meadow Grass
The company sources the meadow grass from a producer
association of farmers in the surrounding area.
These farmers cultivate two-year-old ryegrass in rotation
on their fields. The dry summers of recent years
enable them to make only two cuts, at the end of May
and the end of June. Ideally, they would prefer to harvest
four times a year. For cellulose fiber extraction, the
grass must be free of lignin, meaning it should not be
woody. It is delivered to the meadow grass factory in
chopped form, placed in the on-site 100-meter-long
silo, compacted, and hermetically sealed to allow for
fermentation and storage. After four to six weeks, the
grass silage can be extracted. ““In the future, we also
plan to utilize permanent meadow grass as a raw material
resource,” Meyer zu Drewer plans.
Processing is done on the principle of breaking the
grass down into its individual components: The raw
material from the meadow is transferred from the silo
to a washing device containing 60-degree centigrade
hot water. This process removes impurities such as
stones. The cellulose then floats to the top and can be
skimmed off. What follows is a multi-stage process in a
device called a macerator. The material is rubbed and
beaten, thereby breaking it down and transforming it
into an airy fiber mass. This process opens up the cell
walls, allowing the grass juice to be released, which is
ideal as a substrate for the on-site biogas plant. In two
drying units, the remaining water is then removed from
the fibers.
The part of the cellulose intended for insulation production
is already equipped with flame retardants before it
is dried, giving it a fire protection rating of class B2. The
other part for plastic production is further pulverized,
mixed with recycled plastic, and fed into a pellet press.
The pellets are then transformed into granules before
being packaged in the desired units.
34

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
Stacking boxes made of bioplastic.
Whole PC keyboards and PC mouse casings can be
manufactured from bioplastic.
Biogas Plant is the Key Component
The biogas plant is the key component of the system
and takes up the bulk of the premises of the Bio wert
factory. It was set up by Hese Biogas GmbH from
Gelsenkirchen in as early as 2005. It consists of the receiving
hall, a pre-treatment container for the mixing of
solid components, the hygienization unit, the digester,
a combined storage tank, the combined heat and power
plants (CHP), and the digestate processing unit.
The digester is licensed for 70,000 tons of substrate,
but according to the managing director, this volume
cannot be fully utilized. The substrates or inputs mainly
come from the food sector, such as food waste from
large-scale kitchens or unsellable food products. In addition,
the grass juice from the Biowert factory is used
as an accelerator for biogas production. The two CHP
plants generate a combined electrical power of 717
kilowatts each, producing up to 9 million kilowatthours
per year. The generated electricity is used for the
company’s own power needs, and the surplus is fed into
the public grid.
The waste heat from the engine cooling system is directed
into a central hot water storage tank, which is
connected to both the grass refining factory and the
biogas plant. The exhaust heat from the CHP plants is
utilized for drying cellulose fibers, hygienization processes,
and heating the digester in the biogas plant.
The solid digestate serves as valuable fertilizer for
farmers’ fields, while the liquid phase is processed
into a fertilizer product. Ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis
are available to obtain a high-quality digestate
concentrate.
The Vision of Real Bioplastics
The Managing Director Meyer zu Drewer sees a great
deal of potential for the establishment of additional
Biowert facilities. The mixed grass is not a limiting factor,
considering the 4.7 million hectares of permanent
grassland in Germany. Therefore, it is conceivable to
have further locations in areas with a high proportion
of grassland, such as the Münsterland, Lower Saxony,
or Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. However, the next
technological milestone needs to be achieved before
the plant concept is replicated. And that milestone involves
replacing recycled plastic with real bioplastics.
This would completely eliminate the use of petrochemical
ingredients. “We have already submitted a research
and development project for this and are now waiting for
funding,” reports Meyer zu Drewer. He does not go into
detail at this point but reveals that they aim to produce
plastics from secondary raw materials through biological
processes. When will they achieve this? “We expect to
achieve the breakthrough in three to five years,” Managing
Director Meyer zu Drewer estimates.
Further information:
Biowert Industrie GmbH
www.biowert.com.
Author
Dipl. Geographer Martin Frey
Specialized Journalist
Fachagentur Frey – Kommunikation für Erneuerbare Energien
Lilienweg 13 · 55126 Mainz
00 49 61 31/61 92 78-0
mf@agenturfrey.de
www.agenturfrey.de
35

The project in Bitburg includes
the gas storage facility
and the necessary equipment
for injection. The freestanding
double-membrane gas storage
has a capacity of 5,300
cubic meters.
Biogas from Seven Regional Plants –
Operating Results of the Upgrading Unit
in Bitburg
The upgrading unit of Biogaspartner Bitburg GmbH in the Eifel region has been receiving
raw biogas from seven biogas plants in the area since autumn 2020 and converting it into
feed-in-ready biomethane. A 42-kilometer-long pipeline has been installed for transportation
to the upgrading. The responsible parties were able to collect a lot of operation
experience in the first two and a half years since the start of production.
Author: Dipl. Geographer Martin Frey
The idea of the project was to collect biogas
from different plants in a collective system,
upgrade it, and thereby establish a
swarm power plant based on biomethane,”
says Wolfgang François, Managing Director
of the operating company Biogaspartner Bitburg
GmbH. Many biogas plants in the Bitburg-Prüm district
of the Eifel region were or are approaching the
end of their initial EEG (Renewable Energy Sources
Act) subsidy. In addition, their combined heat and
power plants (CHP) often have relatively low efficiency,
as only 5 percent of the heat is utilized.
The “Regional Interconnected Westeifel System” of
the “Kommunale Netze Eifel” (KNE), which is also
being developed in the region and is nearly completed,
provided an additional impetus to find a solution
for these biogas plants. This extensive infrastructure
project runs through the Eifel region from north to
south and includes not only the supply of drinking
water, but also several other utilities, such as electricity
and fiber optic cables.
“The raw biogas pipeline for the upgrading project has
also been installed in large sections of that area,” says
the board member of Kommunale Netze AöR (KNE)
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTIN FREY
36

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
Helfried Welsch. Welsch is also a representative of
Stadtwerke Trier (SWT), which holds 51 percent of
Biogaspartner Bitburg GmbH, along with KNE (15
percent) and the private waste management company
Luzia François (34 percent) as shareholders of the
company. The interconnected system received strong
support from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate,
which also influenced the speed of implementation
of the upgrading project: “We were able to complete
the regional planning procedure for the entire raw
biogas route in the record time of nine months,” says
Welsch. All the necessary approvals for the pipelines
and the plant were obtained in just one year.
Perfect Site at Bitburg Airport
Bitburg Airport was suitable as a location for the upgrading
plant for two reasons: firstly, the site was already
designated as an industrial area, and secondly,
it was close to an existing natural gas grid. “If you
have to build a longer natural gas connection for a
plant like that, it significantly reduces profitability,”
says François. It is not possible to determine the maximum
distance at which it is worth sourcing the raw
biogas in a general sense. The viable catchment area
depends on the available gas quantity.
For the project, a transfer station was installed at
each biogas plant, where the raw biogas is cleaned
using activated carbon filters, then compressed,
cooled, and injected into the biogas collection pipeline.
The latter has diameters ranging from DN 125
to 250 and was laid together with fiber optic cables,
which is used, among other things, for control via a
central process control system. At the processing site,
the biogas is initially stored in a freestanding doublemembrane
gas storage with a capacity of 5,300 cubic
meters (m 3 ) made by Sattler Ceno TOP-TEX GmbH.
It then enters the upgrading unit, which is located in
several containers right next to the storage. There,
using the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) process
from ETW Energietechnik, approximately half of
the volume, consisting of carbon dioxide (CO 2
), is
removed from the gas. This is done in six interconnected
columns. According to the manufacturer,
the ETW SmartCycle PSA gas purification process is
characterized by simple process control, high availability,
and insensitivity to varying raw gas qualities.
Marketed as “Regional Eifel Gas”
The upgrading unit is operated with regionally generated
green electricity, which is abundant as the region
has a renewable energy share of 160 percent in
terms of electricity. In this way, approximately 1,000
normal cubic meters of biomethane per hour (Nm 3 /h)
are produced from about 1,800 Nm 3 /h of raw biogas.
The SWT primarily use the green regional energy for
efficient electricity and heat generation in decentralized
combined heat and power plants, providing an
Next to the storage facility (left, partially visible) are
the upgrading unit (center of the image) and the
injection facility (right).
Wolfgang François (left) and Helfried Welsch have
overcome numerous challenges and are ready for
new projects.
ideal complement to the volatile electricity production
from solar and wind sources.
Delivery contracts have been concluded with the participating
farmers, to regulate, among other things,
the minimum injection of raw biogas. Although provisions
were made for certain price increases, the
current price jumps in the energy markets are not
covered. “We need to find a different compensation
system for those cases,” Wolfgang François said when
talking about the consequences. “A balance between
stability and flexibility” has to be ensured in the process.
The dramatic price development is not only an issue
in the gas sector, but also in the increased electricity
costs, which have significantly raised the cost of
the purification process. However, this also means
that “currently, the electricity prices are so at-
37

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
The raw biogas is
freed from CO 2
in the
six interconnected
columns of the pressure
swing adsorption
system (PSA).
tractive that understandably, farmers are not willing
to give up the opportunity of self-generation,” notes
Wolfgang François. This situation makes it difficult to
persuade farmers to supply more gas. Welsch adds,
“Although additional on-site electricity generation is
actually counterproductive for the energy market.”
Current developments, however, should not affect
collaboration among the project partners: “In general,
our relationship is designed for long-term cooperation,”
says François. In 2026 and 2027,
the last of the seven plants will exit the
EEG (Renewable Energy Sources Act)
funding scheme. “The agricultural operators
will then essentially face the decision
of whether to participate in tenders
and invest in new CHP (Combined Heat
and Power) technology or to feed everything
into our system and not have to
worry about anything further.”
Operating Experiences
A large-scale project like the biogas processing
in Bitburg poses high demands
on all parties involved, especially in the
initial phase. “We gradually connected
the seven plants within six months,”
says Wolfgang François. The commissioning operation
began in February 2020, while the biogas plants
were being connected. According to François, this involved
coordinating the control systems and smoothly
transitioning into regular operation within two months
in the autumn.
In that connection, there were several challenges to
overcome. The main difficulties were posed by coordinating
the seven biogas plants and integrating
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38

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
them into the natural gas network. “In such a complex
system, there are many variables to consider,” says
Wolfgang François. For example, the compressors at
the transfer stations of the biogas plants had to be
optimized. “The design in the planning phase is different
to operation under real conditions.”
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a situation
occurred that no one had anticipated: a major
consumer of biomethane temporarily halted its industrial
production, resulting in the loss of a customer.
Demand in the natural gas grid was then so low that
the entire plant had to be shut down in the summer
of 2021, according to Wolfgang François. This was
also due to the fact that not all parts of the Westeifel
grid had been completed at that time. In the future,
surpluses can be stored and distributed nationally in
the grid.
Correct Temperature Control of the Gas
A particular challenge in the initial phase was also
related to the temperature range of the gas: in order
to prevent the condensation of raw biogas in the
transport pipeline, it is cooled during compression.
“However, if the amount of raw gas that is generated
exceeds the planned quantity, it needs to be additionally
cooled, especially in the summer when the outside
temperatures exceed 30 degrees Celsius,” says
Wolfgang François. This required special settings on
one hand, and on the other hand, additional thermal
insulation was implemented to reduce external heat
radiation. “These were some of the topics that concerned
us the most,” says François.
The entire project involved investments of over 14
million euros and was financed through equity,
The biomethane is
injected into the natural
gas grid through
a compressor. The
picture shows Tobias
Kessler, an employee
of the participating
waste management
company Luzia
François.
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Green gases too: biogas, biomethane, hydrogen, SNG, and
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39

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
The Sogevac vacuum pumps
made by Leybold are part of the
pressure swing adsorption unit.
be required for this, and the whole system could be
integrated with solar thermal installations. Other
uses of biomethane related to greenhouse gas (GHG)
quotas are also being considered.
Equipment of the natural gas
automatic control system.
Quality assurance in the natural
gas automatic control system.
Expansion with an Electrolysis Plant and AI
The project partners are already planning the next
steps: The previously unused CO 2
from the upgrading
unit is to be converted into additional methane using
hydrogen from an electrolysis process. “We want
to operate the production of hydrogen with surplus
regional wind power,” says Helfried Welsch. Approximately
2,000 tons of hydrogen per year would be required
to fully utilize the generated CO 2
. “This would
enable us to roughly double the amount of produced
biomethane.” However, putting this plan into effect
still depends on funding approval by the state.
In the future, the entire system is also intended to be
equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI). According
to Helfried Welsch, this will provide predictive capabilities
that will allow for flexible utilization of the
existing CHP plants on the farms. The more biogas
is injected into the raw biogas pipeline, the more
the use of AI will become necessary. In addition, a
modular expansion of the existing upgrading unit is
conceivable.
And there is also the transferability to other locations:
“We can duplicate our concept and plan to do
so soon,” says Wolfgang François. With 48 biogas
plants in the Bitburg-Prüm district of the Eifel region,
he estimates that there is sufficient potential
for that. And his project partner, Helfried Welsch,
emphasizes how concrete the whole thing already is:
“In the northern part of the Westeifel, we are in the
process of bringing together additional partners to
establish a similar model.”
Further information:
SWT Stadtwerke Trier
www.swt.de
bank loans, and KfW funds. The KfW funds covered
30 percent of the raw biogas pipeline, equivalent to
approximately 1.5 million euros. From the perspective
of the project leaders, the high effort is worthwhile:
“We can now use the biomethane where heat is really
needed,” says Helfried Welsch. He envisions district
concepts with electricity-driven CHP (combined heat
and power) plants. Local buffer storage tanks would
Author
Dipl. Geographer Martin Frey
Specialist Journalist
Fachagentur Frey – Kommunikation für Erneuerbare Energien
Lilienweg 13 · 55126 Mainz
00 49 61 31/61 92 78-0
mf@agenturfrey.de
www.agenturfrey.de
40

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
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41

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Horse Manure: Tempting, but Tricky
“We change the
substrate every
Monday and Thursday.
That means: we open
the gate, remove the
material, mix a few
shovels into the new
substrate, and put
the material back
in,” Adrian Bartels
explains (left). On the
right is the co-partner
Jens Boedecker.
An increasing number of biogas plant operators are tapping into the tremendous potential
of horse manure. However, this manure cannot be used in agricultural facilities simply at
the drop of a hat. There are two options: upgrading a wet fermentation system for co-digestion
with this challenging material, or investing in specialized plant technology such as dry
fermentation. This is a report from research and practice.
Author: Christian Dany
We estimated a disposal fee of 5 to 10
Euros per ton,” Adrian Bartels explains.
However, because the demand
for horse manure is constantly increasing,
it is becoming more and more
difficult to achieve this fee in renegotiations. Bartels
operates a biogas plant specialized in horse manure
near Hanover. Similarly, Herbert Königs from Neuss am
Rhein says almost the same: “Small equestrian farms
with less than 20 horses are often willing to pay a fair
price for the disposal of manure. In the case of large
horse farms, we face strong competition from mushroom
production.”
Mushroom substrate, for example, consists mainly of
horse manure, and with the high fertilizer prices, more
arable farms are now becoming interested in horse manure.
The demand from the other side also plays a significant
role: According to the new fertilizer regulation,
horse farms must be able to store the manure for two
months on a dung pile, or they must reach an agreement
with a buyer.
Transport Distance: Considering
the Cost-Benefit Ratio
All the horse manure biogas producers who were interviewed
operate a container service for their equestrian
farms. “It’s a challenging business,” says Königs. It requires
large containers. His company, Königs Pflanzenenergie
GmbH & Co. KG, has 50 cubic meters of storage
space, but due to the low bulk density, it only has
room for 8 to 20 tons. Depending on the distance, the
cost-benefit ratio always has to be taken into consideration.
This is why the horse manure digesters that were
surveyed also include some self-deliveries. However,
our survey clearly shows that horse manure, often referred
to as a sleeping giant among energetically usable
residual materials, is a giant that is slowly moving!
An estimated 1.2 million horses are kept in Germany.
Each of them produces between 17 and 21 tons of manure
per year. The University of Hohenheim has found
that if only half of this potential, approximately 20 million
tons, is converted into biogas, it could save 7.8
million tons of corn silage, equivalent to a cultivation
area of 156,000 hectares.
As enticing as this potential may sound, using horse
manure as a biogas substrate is challenging. Long
straw used as bedding material contributes to dry matter
content in the manure, reaching up to 50 percent.
It is poorly digestible by microorganisms, can clog
pumps, and lead to floating layers in the fermenter.
Sawdust used as bedding is unsuitable for the digestion
of the manure.
PHOTOGRAPH: LANDVOLK NIEDERSACHSEN
42

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
PHOTOGRAPH: IZES/DR. JOACHIM PERTAGNOL
Front and rear view of
the Bioenergie Herforst
bunker silo biogas
plant in the Eifel.
Guiding Horse Facilities to Provide
Substrates Free of Contaminants
Foreign objects such as horseshoes, halters,
or bale straps pose a risk to the plant
technology. “We have to advise those responsible
at horse farms,” is something
that was repeatedly heard. This ranges from
raising awareness to issuing warnings, and
even terminating the supply relationship
if the manure is not free of contaminants.
In general, the decentralized generation of
smaller quantities requires sophisticated
collection logistics, with efforts made to
avoid longer interim storage periods, as the
material can also degrade aerobically. The
legal situation has been favorable since
the EEG 2012 (Renewable Energy Sources
Act), but it is impractical to poor for older
facilities.
If horse manure is to be used in agricultural
biogas plants with wet fermentation
processes, preparing the substrate and, if
necessary, separating foreign objects is indispensable.
Dr. Benedikt Hülsemann from
the University of Hohenheim favors preparing
the substrate
directly at the biogas
plant and using it immediately.
Experiments were conducted
at the Hohenheim
research facility using a
cross-flow shredder. The device,
manufactured by MeWa, was
originally designed for material shredding.
It features chain-based impact tools and is
relatively resistant to foreign objects. The
shredding process increases the surface
area and improves the flowability of the
substrate. With a chosen container diameter
of 900 millimeters, the input power is
55 kilowatts (kW e
).
Preparation of Dung Accelerates
Decomposition and Increases
Methane Yield
Both in the laboratory and on a practical
scale, the researchers at Hohenheim were
able to demonstrate that the mechanical
preparation of the fiber components from
the straw results in accelerated decomposition
and can achieve a methane yield increase
of up to 26 percent. The power consumption
of the cross-flow shredder ranged
from 13.8 to 20.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per
ton of fresh matter, which corresponded to
3 percent of the electricity generated with
the substrate.
In a current project, researchers at Hohenheim
are testing a novel ball mill made by
Biokraft Energietechnik GmbH. In this setup,
a rotating drum is placed on an inverted
truck chassis. Steel balls, lifted upwards in
the drum, fall onto the substrate and grind
it. According to project team member Rene
Heller, during a horse manure experiment,
the ball mill was able to increase the specific
methane yield by more than 37 percent.
While final results are not available
yet, a significantly positive energy balance
is expected.
Under the motto “Manure instead of corn”
systems for substrate preparation have
spread in recent years. Other methods involving
mechanical size reduction include
cutting mills, shredders, and extruders. In
addition, the market offers various
physical processes such
as thermal pressure hydrolysis
or ultrasound
treatment, as well as
biological methods.
In the case of biological
methods,
enzyme preparations
are the
preferred option.
According to manufacturer
information,
they reduce viscosity, making
the treated substrate more
liquid, ensuring stirring capability, and
preventing floating layers. The effectiveness
of these preparations is demonstrated by
flow experiments conducted by the manufacturers.
For example, the Berlin-based
company Biopract GmbH has developed an
inclined channel test for this purpose.
Together with his family, Martin Oing implements
three measures for substrate preparation
in Schöppingen, which is located in
the Münsterland region of Germany, where
they operate a biogas plant with a rated capacity
of 700 kW e
. With more than 1,000
horse farms, the Münsterland is one of the
most horse-dense regions in Europe. Oing
uses manure from approximately
“The addition of
enzymes has resulted in
a significant increase in the
proportion of manure and
a reduction in the use of
silage maize”
Martin Oing
43

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
The Ökobit bunker silo fermentation biogas
plant in the Saarland. This is where biogas is
produced from horse manure in three bunker
silo digesters and then converted into electricity
in a combined heat and power plant
(CHP) with an electrical output of 80 kW e
.
300 horses, amounting to 10 to 15 tons
per day, along with some cattle manure.
To achieve this, the Oings have equipped
their fermenter with a MeWa cross-flow
shredder and add a daily dose of 1.2 liters
of enzymes. “The addition of enzymes
has resulted in a significant increase in the
proportion of manure and a reduction in the
use of silage maize,” says Oing.
Despite the positive effect of mechanical
cutting and enzymes, the situation was unsatisfactory:
“The substrate in the digester
was so thick that the agitators ran practically
all the time.” So, last year the Oings
installed a PlurryMaxx wet grinder. The
device extracts digester content through a
bypass system and pulverizes it with a rapidly
rotating blade hammer. “The system
is designed in such a way that the entire
input goes through the wet grinder once,”
explains Oing, “which allowed us to reduce
agitation by more than a third.” The power
consumption of the PlurryMaxx is more or
less compensated by this saving.
A similar scenario, and yet somewhat different,
is the setup of the processing system
at Königs Pflanzenenergie. In Neuss, a
fermenter was “adjusted” to horse manure
two years ago, using a cross-flow disintegrator
equipped with movable beaters and
a counter-blade. A magnetic separator is
installed upstream, which is fed through
belts. As Herbert Königs explains, the processed
substrate is mixed with recirculated
liquid during the injection process. In addition,
one liter of enzymes is added every day.
One difference to Oing is the fermentation
temperature: while Oing operates
“The TS (Total Solids)
content in liquid digesters
should not be more than
14 percent”
Dr. Hans Oechsner
their biogas plant
mesophilically at
approximately 40
degrees Celsius
(°C), Königs runs
the horse manure
fermenter at 52 °C to
optimize the degradation
rate. Through this
combination of measures,
along with sugar beet pulp and
silage maize as co-substrates, a very
high proportion of horse manure can be
used in the digester. Dr. Hans Oechsner
from the University of Hohenheim recommends
not using more than 50 percent
horse manure in wet fermentation: “The
TS (Total Solids) content in liquid digesters
should not be more than 14 percent.”
In areas surrounding cities with a high
population of horses, Oechsner considers
biogas plants specialized in horse
manure to be beneficial. “In these cases,
one could consider dry fermentation plants
that can easily handle the high TS (Total
Solids) content and foreign matter in the
substrate,” says the agricultural scientist.
These plants operate with cyclically operated
digester boxes, into which the fermentation
substrate is feed in and after
digested extractedusing a wheel loader.
The substrate stack is sprayed with a liquid
percolate, a by-product during digestion.
“The permeability of the substrate has to
be ensured by structural material,” says
Oechsner, pointing out that this process
requires careful attention by the operator.
The coarse straw in horse manure is usually
sufficient for this
purpose. It is crucial
to avoid material
slumping: “If
the percolate does
not reach certain
areas, ‘dead heaps’
can form, leading to
acidification.” In addition,
a quarter to a third of
the fermented material must
always be mixed into the new substrate
as a starter culture, which adds to
the workload.
Gas from the Garage
There is only one specialized facility like
that in Germany which specifically focuses
on horse manure: Adrian Bartels operates
it together with Jens Boedecker in Lehrte
near Hanover. The plant, owned by Babö
GmbH, mainly consists of five parallel garage
digesters, a percolate tank with a gas
storage unit, and a 75 kW e
combined heat
and power (CHP) plant. “We could produce
a little more gas,” says Bartels. However,
during its commissioning in 2017, 75 kW e
was the maximum limit for a small-scale
manure plant. The plant, built by the Swiss
manufacturer Renergon, processes the manure
from 250 to 300 horses, amounting to
3,500-4,000 tons per year.
“We change the substrates every Monday
and Thursday. That means: we open the
gate, remove the material, mix a few shovels
into the new substrate, and put the material
back in,” explains Bartels. Approximately
130 m3 of substrate then remains
PHOTOGRAPH: ÖKOBIT GMBH
44

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
in the airtight enclosed garage for 18 to 21
days, during which time the volume shrinks
to about one-third. This is the way the process
runs through the five digesters.
The substrate is irrigated with percolate
every two hours on average. The liquid
travels into a drainage channel through the
substrate via a slope in the bottom of the
digester. From there, it is pumped back to
the percolate tank. “In principle, the plant
is simple in design,” says the farmer. It is
equipped with two pumps, an agitator in
the percolate tank, and five irrigation nozzles
in each digester. The heating is done
solely with the percolate, which is directly
heated by the CHP unit through heat exchangers.
No heating pipes are installed.
In addition to horse manure, the residents
of Lower Saxony use approximately 10 percent
of cattle manure and small amounts of
grass clippings. According to Bartels, the
digestate is stored and then applied as a
top fertilizer on the farm’s own fields. As it
was one of the first plants in Germany, Babö
GmbH obtained a favorable price from the
equipment manufacturer. “Wet fermentation
with substrate processing would have
cost roughly the same,” Bartels estimates.
His garage digester plant has an electricity
self-consumption rate of only 3 percent,
which is significantly lower than an upgraded
wet fermentation system. However, it
should be noted that more operating hours
with diesel consumption for the farm loader
need to be considered. Nevertheless, he is
very satisfied with his plant and is convinced
that he made the right decision.
A horizontal fermenter handles
higher TS (Total Solids) content
Frank Bauer from Schrozberg has found a
kind of compromise solution: a plug-flow
fermenter made by the manufacturer Novatech.
The 900 m³ horizontal fermenter
with a slowly rotating longitudinal agitator
can handle TS (Total Solids) levels of up
to 30 percent, as is typical for this type of
digester. Bauer raises turkeys and keeps
35 horses. He wanted a robust technology
to utilize his manure. He currently gets
manure from more than 200 horses, and
combined with turkey and some cattle manure,
the solid manure fraction amounts
to approximately 50 percent. The biogas
plant, built in 2007, still consists of three
cylindrical tanks and two CHP units with a
combined capacity of 500 kW e
. Bauer directly
feeds renewable raw materials into
one of the cylindrical digesters. The material
from the plug-flow fermenter is pumped
into a secondary digester and then into the
digestate storage.
However, Bauer also cannot avoid pre-processing
the horse manure. “I didn’t want
an expensive and potentially unreliable
technology directly in the fermentation
process,” he says. That is why he uses a
mobile biomass shredder. Although it is
primarily designed for woody green waste,
it works perfectly fine with horse manure
as well. “If I use horse manure that is not
shredded, I immediately notice an increase
in power consumption,” explains Bauer,
adding, “30 liters of diesel are enough to
shred around 200 tons of horse manure.
After shredding, the manure pile steams,
and I can see that energy is being lost.” The
manure then has to be brought to the plant
as quickly as possible. Bauer is convinced
that horse manure is “very good for the biology”
because, unlike poultry manure, it
does not involve nitrogen inhibition.
Bunker Silo Digesters
A novel, cost-effective type of dry fermentation
plant is being developed in the current
research project FeBio (Solid-State Biogas
Plant): a bunker silo biogas plant. “The
bunker silo digester is comparable to a long
garage embedded in the ground without a
roof, which is covered with a tarpaulin after
being filled,” explains Eike Ziegler, a
developer at the participating biogas plant
manufacturer Ökobit GmbH. This type is
based on the work of Hans Wolfertstetter
from Upper Bavaria, who has built several
of these plants under the concept of the
“Chiemgau Model”. Following the Chiemgau
model, a plant was also established in
the Eifel region, which now serves as a basis
for standardization and technical improvements
for Ökobit and the FeBio project.
Technical challenges in the bunker silo
design include the practical opening and
closing of the cover tarp. According to Ziegler,
this is resolved by using a rolling and
gas-tight fastening system. In addition, the
pipelines for percolate irrigation should be
easily removable to provide space for filling
the fermenter with a wheel loader. However,
the modular plant should be kept as simple
and compact as possible.
“The aim is to achieve electricity generation
costs of around 18 cents/kWh e
and investment
costs of less than 8,000 euros/kW e
of
installed capacity for the core plant,” states
Christoph Spurk, Managing Director of Ökobit.
The company intends to offer this type
of plant as a cost-effective builder-owner
model. The groundbreaking ceremony for
the FeBio pilot plant recently took place in
Saarland. Biogas will be produced here out
of horse manure in three bunker silo digesters
and converted to electricity using an 80
kW e
CHP (Combined Heat and Power) unit.
With regard to profitability, only one of the
interviewed users of horse manure digestion
is skeptical, while two are satisfied and
one is even enthusiastic. Horse owners can
be new business partners to biogas plant
operators and offer new opportunities, such
as providing the service of spreading horse
manure digestate. Adrian Bartels explains
that some of his equestrian centers get
straw for horse stall bedding from him.
Horse Manure Mobilizes Waste
Collection Trucks
Meanwhile, Königs Pflanzenenergie is
working on its concept of “Mobility with
Horse Manure”. The company has been
operating a biogas purification and injection
system since 2010. A significant
portion of the biomethane now comes
from horse manure, which presents good
opportunities for marketing it as a fuel.
According to Herbert Königs, a Bio-CNG
(bio methane compressed natural gas) refueling
station is currently being built directly
at the biogas plant.
It has already signed a contract for refueling
waste collection trucks. Biomethane
from horse manure allows for additional
income through the sale of greenhouse
gas reduction credits. The European Clean
Vehicles Directive now requires public authorities
to use alternative fuels, and according
to Königs, “With Bio-CNG, we are
far ahead of other technologies as a diesel
substitute.”
Author
Christian Dany
Freelance Journalist
Gablonzer Str. 21 · 86807 Buchloe
00 49 82 41/911 403
christian.dany@web.de
45

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Shikaoi Hydrogen
Farm: Biogas plant at
the local environment
center.
JAPAN
Milk, Manure,
Hydrogen
Tokyo
Biogas has not played a major role in
Japan’s energy mix so far. But that could
soon change. In addition, some innovative
concepts are being tested in the Land of
the Rising Sun.
Author: Klaus Sieg
Covering an area of 83,000 square kilometers,
Hokkaido is Japan’s second-largest island.
But the island is mostly off the beaten
track for most people, except for those who
come to ski. And yet, in 1972, the Winter
Olympics were held on Hokkaido. Located in the far
north of Japan on a par with Vladivostok, temperatures
on the island are frosty throughout the long winter. And
there are heavy snowfalls. Despite this, a significant
portion of the food produced in the country is grown in
Hokkaido.
The agricultural center lies in the Tokkachi region near
the city of Obhihiro. Nowhere in Japan is the countryside
so vast and flat. If it were not for the mountain
ranges on the horizon, you might mistake this place for
northern Germany. Corn, potatoes, onions, beets, and
cabbage thrive in the fields. Enormous farms produce
meat and dairy products, which are sold as far south as
the fourth largest island state in the world.
It comes as no surprise that Japan’s largest concentration
of biogas plants can be found here. Out of approximately
220 facilities in the country, one hundred
operate using substrates from agriculture. According
to a study by the ECOS Institute from Osnabrück for
the EU-Japan Centre, seventy of these are located in
Hokkaido
Biogas Plant for Manure from 20,000 Cows
“We particularly had to find a solution for the great
amount of manure,” says Yoichi Abo. “In our community
Shikaoi, there are 5,500 people and 20,000 cows.”
So, with the support of the Japanese government, the
community invested in an environment center headed
by Yoichi Abo. The centerpiece of the environmental
center is a biogas plant that started operating in October
2007.
Every day, trucks fill its digesters with more than 130
tons of manure. Added to this are small amounts of
organic municipal waste and wastewater. The 3,900
cubic meters of biogas produced daily are utilized by
two combined heat and power plants (CHP) generating
6,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to power
600 households. “Moreover, we have significantly re-
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTIN EGBERT
46

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
Shikaoi Hydrogen
Farm: The hydrogen
is obtained through
steam reforming.
Yoichi Abo has
brought the remote
island of Hokkaido
into world events with
his Shikaoi Hydrogen
Farm. International
guests come almost
every day to visit the
biogas plant’s hydrogen
filling station.
duced odor pollution in the area,” Yoichi
Abo adds.
Yoichi Abo and his team have also demonstrated
how a problem can become a solution.
They are planning a second plant with
an absorption capacity of 200 tons of manure
per day. That could enable the community
to operate with autonomous power
supply. Above all, the environmental center
aims to demonstrate the possibilities offered
by biogas technology. The residues
from the facility are sold as fertilizer, and
the waste heat from the two CHP plants
is used to heat three greenhouses, where
mangoes and sweet potatoes are cultivated.
A small sturgeon farm also uses the waste
heat from the CHP. Biogas caviar will soon
be available. In the future, Yoichi Abo also
wants to market the CO 2
from the plant
for the production of dry ice. His latest
achievement, however, is a methane-powered
hydrogen filling station that outshines
everything else. “We are the first filling
station in Japan to produce hydrogen from
methane obtained from manure,” says
Yoichi Abo. Apart from ours, there is only
one other methane-hydrogen filling station
that recently started operating in Fukuoka
on the southern main island of Kyūshū, using
wastewater fermentation.
“We are the first filling
station in Japan to produce
hydrogen from methane
obtained from manure”
Yoichi Abo
The Shikaoi Hydrogen
Farm draws visitors
from all over the world to the
environmental center. “Just recently, we
had the ambassador from Chile here, and
tomorrow, a group of visitors from Thailand
is scheduled to arrive,” Yoichi Abi proudly
says. Today’s visitors, a group of Japanese
businessmen wearing black business suits,
are part of the daily route on the Shikaoi
Hydrogen Farm. Just now, they are strolling
past the filling station, where a white
hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai is parked.
The first mass-produced hydrogen car,
made five years ago, belongs to Yoichi
Abo. This model can travel 500 kilometers
on a full tank, while the successor model
can cover 650 kilometers. “To cover 500
kilometers, we need 60 cubic meters of hydrogen,
which we produce from 25 cubic
meters of methane. However, with larger
quantities, we can increase the efficiency
to a ratio of 1:4,” explains Yoichi Abo.
Each Cow Provides Hydrogen for
10,000 Kilometers per Year
Hydrogen out of methane is obtained using
so-called steam reformation, which is
a less expensive process than electrolysis.
In this process, methane and water vapor
react under high heat
and pressure to produce
carbon monoxide and
hydrogen. “Each cow
produces 23 tons of
excrement per year,” explains
Yoichi Abo, “from
which we can produce
enough hydrogen for 10,000
kilometers, equivalent to the average
distance a Japanese person travels
privately in a year.”
However, there is not much activity yet at
the hydrogen filling station. On some days,
besides Yoichi Abo’s car, the only vehicle
is the environment center’s forklift truck
that comes to the spotlessly clean station
to refuel. Fuel cell cars are twice as expensive
to acquire. “Currently, there are only
50 fuel cell cars on the whole of Hokkaido,
but hopefully, that will change soon,” says
Yoichi Abo. As it is a pilot project, Abo
doesn’t have to worry about making a profit
for now.
For the past nine years, he has been responsible
for sales, installation, and maintenance
of biogas plants at Tsuchiya Dairy
Equipment & Systems. The business area
has grown substantially at the agricultural
machinery company, which now employs
150 people. “Biogas is becoming more and
more important for us. We have already set
up 62 plants with a capacity of 13 megawatts.
Most of them are in Hokkaido,” Bussacker
explains on the drive to one of the
plants. Crows perch in the bare trees along
the roadside, where meter-high wooden
posts with red and white arrows mark
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ENGLISH ISSUE
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Shikaoi Hydrogen
Farm: Cultivation
of mangoes in the
greenhouse using
surplus heat from the
biogas plant.
Shikaoi Hydrogen
Farm: A small sturgeon
farm also uses
the waste heat from
the CHP unit.
the way. Even in heavy snow, these markers
help to trace the path of the road
“Until about three years ago, there was
a downright boom here,” Bussacker explains.
On the one hand, large meat and
dairy farms had to come up with solutions
for the disposal of manure and slurry. Although
spreading untreated excrements is
currently allowed by law, there is a growing
awareness of the potential risks to drinking
water, and we can expect legislative regulations
to be introduced in the future.
Convenient Feed-In Tariff
However, what has been even more crucial
for the high demand for biogas is the legal
feed-in tariff of approximately 30 Euro
cents per kilowatt-hour for a duration of
twenty years. Although this feed-in tariff
was slightly reduced at the beginning of
2023, it still remains a significant incentive.
In addition, there are numerous direct
subsidies available for investments in the
agricultural sector.
On Hokkaido, the expansion of renewable
energies has been limited mainly due to the
inadequate power grid infrastructure. The
connection to Japan’s largest main island,
Honshū, leaves much to be desired and
hampers regulatory possibilities. In addition,
operators often have to bear the burden
of costly grid connections for their facilities.
Moreover, there has been no feed-in
guarantee for the past two years. Recently,
Japan’s energy market was fully liberalized.
In 2020, generation and grid operation
were formally separated and are now privately
owned. However, the large, regionally
organized utilities still have significant influence
and can impede progress. Nonetheless,
a regulation for direct energy marketing
was introduced a year ago. In addition,
the government is increasingly calling for
the expansion of power grids. “As a result,
we expect an increase in demand,” Carsten
Bussacker hopes.
Shikaoi Hydrogen Farm: Hydrogen from biogas is provided at this filling station. The hydrogen
Toyota Mirai is the first mass-produced hydrogen car. This model can travel 500 kilometers on
a single full tank, while the successor model can cover 650 kilometers. To achieve a range of
500 kilometers, it requires 60 cubic meters of hydrogen.
Manure Poses Higher Strain
on Agitators
He steers the car toward the entrance to the
Oona Farm past huge shelters for machines
and bales of silage. 4,000 beef cows stand
in open barns, their breath steaming into
the cool autumn air. “This was our first
facility for using manure instead of slurry
three years ago,” explains Bussacker on the
way to one of the digesters. Manure results
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BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
The meat farm has no milking parlors that
need to be heated. In addition, temperatures
in January and February on Hokkaido
can be in the double-digit minus range. But
that is also the reason for another special
feature, an emergency burner for heating
in case the CHP units fail. Bussacker has
modified the model currently available on
the market so that it heats with biogas from
the plant.
Oona Farm in Obihiro: Interesting architecture of the biogas plant – the gas storage tanks are
located on the concrete roof of the fermentation tanks in the semi-circular metal huts.
in lower gas yield and puts more strain on
the agitators. “We closely monitor our facilities
because customers expect high utilization,
which we also meet with runtimes
of 97 to 98 percent.”
Sometimes Bussacker has to bear the brunt
of it. On the Oona Farm, for example, the
operators have also used another substrate
besides the manure, such as rice flour. That
lead to too much foam being produced in
the digester. “A biogas plant is a living entity
that you can easily mess up,” remarks
Carsten Bussacker with a grin. Then he
climbs up a narrow ladder and firmly steps
onto the roof of the first, large 3,400 cubic
meter digester. “We construct the walls
and roof panels using twenty-centimeter
reinforced concrete; after all, we are in an
earthquake-prone area. However, financing
such measures is only possible with
the appropriate feed-in tariffs,” Bussacker
explains.
On the roof, there is a sort of Nissen hut
made of sheet steel which houses the gas
storage tank. The waste heat from the two
CHP units is used exclusively for the plant.
Shikaoi has almost four times as many cattle as people. Every day, 130 tons of manure from
the cattles ends up in the biogas plant at the community’s environmental center. No wonder, that
the gas storage is always well filled.
Parts Made by German
Manufacturers
Tsuchiya Dairy Equipment & Systems obtains
most of the parts and machine for
their own designs in Germany, from PlanET
Biogastechnik in Gescher, Flygt, Vogelsang
or 2G, of which two hydrogen CHP plants
are in operation in Japan. German companies
are also present as local system providers.
Not far from Obhihiro, the agricultural
group Nobels Co. Ltd. operates two dairy
farms with a total of 36,000 animals. There
is a biogas plant in operation on both farms.
There is a 750-kilowatt system of electrical
capacity, one from a Japanese manufacturer,
and a 250-kilowatt plant from Weltec.
In March, another system from the manufacturer
based in Vechta, Lower Saxony,
will be commissioned for Nobels Co. Ltd.
on Honshū.
“We mainly want to treat the manure, even
if it’s not prescribed by law yet,” the operations
manager Yasuhiro Nishio explains.
“Without the favorable feed-in tariff, we
wouldn’t have made the investment in the
relatively expensive system from the Japanese
manufacturer.” The electrical energy
from the 2G CHP plant of the Weltec facility
on the smaller of Nobels’ two farms in
Hokkaido is directly consumed by the operation
for lighting and milking machines.
However, this is not a voluntary decision but
rather due to the inadequate power grid infrastructure.
Government Partially Subsidized
Biogas Investment Directly
“Of course, we would have preferred to pay
the utility 15-euro cents per kilowatt hour
for our consumption and feed it in for 30-
euro cents,” says Yasuhiro Nishio. In return,
however, the investment in the biogas
plant was partly subsidized directly by the
government. In addition, the fertilizer from
the residual materials produces good
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ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Biogas plant of the Nobels Co. Ltd.
agricultural group in Urahoro.
Separation of the fermented
manure and storage of the solids on
the biogas plant in Urahoro.
Carsten Bussacker has been living in
Japan for 16 years. For nine years now, he
has been in charge of the installation and
maintenance of biogas plants.
results on the 600 hectares of the company’s own cultivated
land for fodder maize.
Standing in front of the hall with the steaming digestate,
Yasuhiro Nishio explains another advantage. Before the
digestate is spread on the fields, it is shuttled between
the barns as bedding and, enriched with manure once
again, returns to the biogas plant’s digester. It is only
applied to the fields when there is too much of it. “This
saves us a lot of money on straw as bedding.”
Given the sum of these advantages, the question arises
as to why biogas, with a mere installed capacity of 85
megawatts, plays such a subordinate role in the Japanese
energy mix. There are also no plans to use biomethane
as a replacement for fossil fuels. Still, the highly
developed industrial nation continues to rely on gas,
coal, and petroleum for two-thirds of its energy needs.
Despite all the pleas to conserve energy after Fukushima,
average Japanese use a third more electrical
energy than Europeans. A stroll through the world-famous
Shinjuku district of Tokyo, known for
its oversized neon signs, or simply visiting a
private or public standard toilet with heated
seats, automatic flushing and bottom dryer
highlights the reasons for that.
20 Percent of Renewable
Milestone Achieved with Solar
Energy and Hydropower
After the devastating earthquake and reactor
disaster in Fukushima in 2011, the Japanese
government, in its 5th Energy Supply
Plan from 2015, decided on a share of renewable
energies of 22 to 24 percent in the
electricity supply. Before Fukushima, only
10 percent was intended. The proportion of
one fifth of renewable energy has been achieved. Most
of it comes from solar energy and hydropower. Only a
mere of 2.7 percent comes from biogas. Biogas has a
share of only 1.5 percent of energy from biomass.
As a reaction to international pressure, Japan has improved
its climate targets and among other things, has
submitted a 6th Energy Supply plan. First, the bad
news: Contrary to previous promises, nuclear energy is
once again allocated a one-fifth share in the energy mix.
And the good news is: The share of renewables will increase
to 36 to 38 percent by 2030. Hydrogen will play
an important part in that. And with 3.7 to 4.6 percent
by 2030, biomass is expected to gain importance, serving
as an economic driver in rural regions. Biogas will
benefit from this.
The biogas share of currently 85 megawatts can also be
seen as a positive trend, as it represents a significant
increase compared to seven megawatts in 2012. The
authors of the ECOS Institute study mentioned at the
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BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
Yasuhiro Nishio, the operations manager of the
biogas plant at Nobels Co. Ltd. in Urahoro, which
was constructed by the German company Weltec
Biopower.
The biogas plant of the waste disposal company Dispo Co. Ltd. Dispo disposes of
industrial waste in Obihito and the surrounding communities. To process the organic
waste, the company put a biogas plant with a capacity of 150 kW of Tsuchiya Dairy
Equipment & Systems into operation in 2017.
Arita Hirotaka, the
operations manager
of the Dispo Co.Ltd.
biogas plant.
beginning of this article therefore expect
strong growth in the biogas market before
the end of this decade.
Only 10% of Generated Agricultural
Waste Utilized for Biogas
They see a potential of 1.65 gigawatts of
electrical power in the utilization of livestock
excrements. Due to the limited availability
of arable land in the country, the use
of energy crops is not being considered.
However, only 10 percent are currently energetically
utilized from manure and slurry.
Experts also see significant potential in using
industrial food waste as a substrate. In
the realm of bioenergy, organic municipal
waste has remained untapped until now
due to its separation into combustible and
non-combustible components. Japan produces
6.5 million tons of food waste per
year. Most of it is composted or processed
into fodder. However, 42 biogas plants in
the country are actively utilizing in-
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51
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ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
With a height of 300 meters, Abeno Harukas is the tallest
building in Japan. It houses a biogas plant in the basement.
dustrial food waste. But this approach can come with
its challenges. Arita Hirotaka, from Dispo Co. Ltd., can
attest to that. The waste disposal company’s logo, a
prominent “I love Recycle” with a red heart, can be
spotted from far off on the white facility located on the
outskirts of Obihiro. There are garbage trucks and tankers
on the premises.
Dispo disposes of commercial waste in Obihiro and the
surrounding communities. In 2017, the company commissioned
a 150-kW biogas plant from Tsuchiya Dairy
Equipment & Systems to process organic waste. “Until
May 2022, the plant performed exceptionally well, generating
over 1,100 megawatt-hours of electrical power,
surpassing our expectations in some years,” the operations
manager explained.
“The depackers work well and the substrate can be easily
organized.” A manufacturer of potato chips and a
company that makes sweets out of red bean paste work
in the vicinity. There are also dairy plants and dairy
farms. “Going through the biogas plant is faster and
cheaper than composting the materials.”
Besides that, the waste heat heats a small greenhouse
with tomatoes and lettuce which sell well to local supermarkets,
especially in winter. Nevertheless, the feed-in
tariff for the generated electrical energy remains the
cornerstone of the plant’s financing. Therefore, the
operational disruption experienced between May and
October 2022 was all the more frustrating. “We mixed
too much whey into the substrate,” Arita Hirotaka candidly
recounted. That led to an over acidification in the
fermenter. “So, we had to empty the digester, and in
the process, we also removed 120 tons of solid residues
and covered the concrete with a plastic layer to protect
it from acid attack,” Hirotaka reflected. However,
thanks to the guaranteed feed-in tariff for 20 years, he
is confident that the plant will be profitable. The company
even plans to invest in a second one, which would
provide electrical energy for self-consumption due to
the unreliable grid connection.
Biogas Plant in a Skyscraper
Masara Komori is well acquainted with food waste in the
biogas plant. “I check the plant every day.” The head
of building technology at Japan’s tallest skyscraper,
standing at 300 meters, wears a simple tie with a grey
technician’s jacket and horn-rimmed glasses. However,
his workplace, Abeno Harukas in Downtown Osaka,
boasts several superlatives: on the lower floors, the
Kintetsu chain operates the largest department store
in Japan, spanning 100,000 square meters, including
a massive grocery section. Besides that, the building
has 50 restaurants, an art museum, a railway station
and office space in 300,000 square meters of space.
Masara Komori is one of 8,000 people working in the
building. But, contrary to everyone else, he has a key
to every door. And the engineer always knows where he
is. He hurries purposefully through the corridors of the
five basement floors, past employees who, slightly bent
forward, push rattling trolleys full of goods in front of
them, hurry to the meeting point of the cleaning crew,
or in their lime green uniforms to their workplace as
elevator operators.
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BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
Abeno Harukas Building: The organic waste
from around 50 restaurants and waste from the
grocery department of the department store are
shredded in this room.
In the Abeno Harukas Building, some
restaurants use hot water from the
boiler operated with methane from
the building’s own biogas plant.
The nighttime street
scene in Tokyo illustrates,
among other things, why
Japan has such a high
demand for electricity.
Biogas for the Hot Water Boiler
A widely ramified network of sprinkler systems
and spotless supply lines winds under
the ceiling. One of them belongs to a boiler
for the hot water of some of the restaurants
in the building. This is operated with 60
cubic meters of methane per day from the
building’s own biogas plant. It is located
on the third basement floor. After countless
steel doors and hundreds of meters of
corridors made of light-colored concrete,
Masara Komori finally stands in front of it.
After the organic waste from the restaurants
and the grocery department has been collected
and shredded, it ends up here in a
34 cubic meter silo, where it is mixed with
water and pumped into each of the two 106
cubic meter digesters. To avoid unpleasant
odors, an ozone filter is used. “Overall, the
system operates smoothly, but occasionally
eggshells or highly fibrous waste clog
the pipes and pumps. We simply need to
improve the training of our staff,” Komori
concludes.
The plant, that cost approximately 200,000
euros, was half-funded by the Japanese government.
The hot water provided to users is
free of charge. “In return, we are reducing
waste quantities and methane emissions,”
says Komori. In addition, his employer gets
significant public attention for the biogas
plant located in one of the world’s tallest
buildings, and that is perfectly fine. After
all, Masara Komori and his team demonstrate
that biogas technology can indeed
work effectively in urban settings.
Author
Klaus Sieg
Freelance Journalist
Rothestr. 66 · 22655 Hamburg
00 49 171/6 39 42 62
klaus@siegtext.de
www.siegtext.de
53

The owner of the biogas plant
Bioelektro NAC in Cestereg
Mihajlo Nakomčic, and associates:
If the 24-year old decided
to sell his electricity on the
open market, he would lose
the feed-in tariff agreed on for
twelve years.
SERBIA
Searching for the
Perfect Substrate
Belgrade
Serbian biogas plant operators are currently struggling with low energy
crop yields and the poor availability of residual and waste materials. Added
to that, some energy suppliers sometimes fail to pay out feed-in tariffs
for months. And a tendering procedure for compensation introduced in
2021 is slowing down the emerging industry.
Author: Klaus Sieg
Wind is driving grey clouds across the
sky. There is a fine drizzle in the air,
dampening blades of grass, cows,
stable roofs, pipes, agitators, and the
pebbles on the digester’s roof alike.
Finally, rain. “Unfortunately, it has come too late,” says
Srdjan Miljanic, zipping up his gray weather jacket.
Serbia has seen hardly any rainfall since the spring of
2022. Now it’s September 2022. The yellow-brown
corn in the vast fields of Vojvodina is not even kneehigh.
“So far, we’ve only been able to harvest three to
four tons of silage per hectare,” says the 39-year-old
farm manager, pointing to the storage facility. “Ideally,
it should be eight to nine.”
His boss, who is the investor of Agro Plus Energy, had
expected something completely different. Since 2006,
the agricultural trader has been operating the 800-hectare
former state farm, cultivating corn, soybeans, sunflowers,
and wheat. The Vojvodina region boasts some
of Europe’s finest soils, second only to Ukraine. “However,
the farm was in a state of complete disrepair,”
explains Srdjan Miljanic, a qualified economist.
Miljanic leased 500 hectares and invested a lot of money
in the renovation of the silos and silage storage, in
the stables for the 450 cows and in a very modern machine
park. Four years ago, he added the biogas plant
made by the Austrian manufacturer Biogest in order to
diversify his revenues and, above all, to compensate
PHOTOGRAPHS: JÖRG BÖTHLING
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BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
for the sharp drop in milk prices. The digester of the
Biogest plant has a solid concrete roof and an outside
gas tank.
Srdjan Miljanic is happy with the technology. With the
excrements from the barns and 20,000 tons of silage
grown on 400 hectares, he achieved an operational capacity
of 96 to 97 percent. “Last year, we generated
8,400 megawatt-hours of electrical energy,” the plant
manager proudly recounts. This year, an additional 150
hectares of silage are required to operate the facility at
a capacity between 70 and 80 percent.
Additional purchasing is not an alternative. At around
95 euros per ton, the market price has quadrupled.
“This year, we’re just struggling to survive,” says Srdjan
Miljanic raising his shoulders in resignation. Fortunately,
he can at least replace the mineral fertilizer with
residues from the biogas plant on 250 hectares. With
price increases of 300 percent due to the Ukraine war,
no small advantage.
Auction Process Hampers Biogas Plant
Expansion
Initially, the Serbian government had created favorable
conditions for biogas plants like Agro Plus Energy,
offering a guaranteed feed-in tariff of 19.3 cents per
kilowatt-hour for twelve years, along with an annual
inflation adjustment based on the Euro. However, conditions
have changed since the introduction of the Renewable
Energy Law in 2021, which implemented an
auction process.
So far, there are 34 plants in Serbia in 2022, another
82 projects are in the pipeline, including many operators,
who still wanted to secure the old feed-in tariff.
The question of whether that can be achieved is very
uncertain. “We don’t know yet how the new rule will
work,” says Lidija Carević from the Serbian Biogas
Association in Belgrade. Together with her associate
Goran Knežević, she welcomes us in the rooms of the
association on the 19th floor of a new business tower in
Novi Beograd, a district of Belgrade.
The view from the window is over a district built after
World War II and the confluence of the Sava and
Danube rivers. The grandiose panorama is deceptive.
The Serbian Biogas Association, founded ten years
ago, merely has a desk in a co-working space at this
lofty height, which acts as a cost-effective measure.
Antje Kramer is here on a business assignment from
the German Biogas Association. There is a partnership
between the two associations, supported by the German
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ) and the climate partnership between
Germany and Serbia, as part of the Balkan country’s
preparations for accession to the EU.
Farm Manager Srdjan Miljanica at Agro plus Energy:
“Last year, we fed in 8,400 of megawatt hours of electrical
energy,” says the operations manager with satisfaction.
Svetozar Miletic in Sombor: This picture shows the
agricultural operation Agro plus Energy, with a biogas
plant built by the Austrian manufacturer Biogest.
So far, Serbia has produced almost 70 percent of
electrical power by means of old coal-fired power
plants. The aim is to change that. The partnership
with the association is immensely helpful, whether it
is for knowledge transfer, public relations, or support
in lobbying efforts. “We have become important contacts
for policymakers,” says Lidija Carević. And that
is urgently needed.
A new government has just been elected in Serbia. A lot
is still in a state of flux, or to put it more clearly:
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ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Goran Knežević and Lidija Carević from the Biogas Association Serbia in the Usce Tower, where the association has its headquarters.
Antje Kramer (right photo) is from the German Biogas Association on a visit to the Serbian Biogas Association in Novi Beograd, a district
of Belgrade. There is a partnership between the associations, supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ) and the climate partnership between Germany and Serbia, which is part of the Balkan country’s preparations for EU
accession.
not regulated or not implemented. Like a statutory regulation
for the feed-in of biomethane. Or liberalization
of the electricity sector. The state-owned monopolist
Elektroprivredav Sribije (EPS) still has a market share
of 97 percent, even though there are more than 70
other providers.
Unused Waste Material Potential
Serbia achieved its share of 26 percent of renewable
energies in 2021, mainly with hydropower. What part
will biogas play in the next phase, 32 percent by 2030?
There is definitely potential. Manure from numerous
livestock farms is still untapped, although most of the
farms are small-scale. Equally suitable are the wastewater
and other processing residues from sugar and
other food industries, as well as the annual organic
fraction of 2.1 million tons from municipal solid waste.
However, silage from corn or other energy crops as a
substrate is facing a crisis, as demonstrated by the case
of Agro Plus Energy.
Global Seed in Čurug reacted to that some time ago.
The way to the dairy farm leads past farmland with
pitch-black soil, vast orchards and settlement villages
dating back to the Habsburg era, with Orthodox and
Catholic churches, wide avenues, lush green areas, and
partly neoclassical house facades. Serbs, Hungarians,
Slovaks, Croatians, Romanians and many other ethnic
groups live in the Voijvodina region.
Using the Envitec plant, Global Seed was one of the
first operators of a biogas facility in Serbia a decade
ago. As the self-proclaimed largest milk farm in Europe
certified with the EU Organic Seal, their primary aim
was to address a waste disposal issue and produce organic
fertilizer for their own fields.
Residual Materials instead of Corn Silage
Five years later, the plant was expanded to a total of
1.27 megawatts. The contents of the large silage warehouse,
however, has been reserved exclusively for the
2,000 cows for several years. Next to the warehouse,
a tank truck from Esotron from Novi Sad, which disposes
of, treats and sells food waste, stops to fill the
tank of the biogas plant with liquid sludge from organic
waste. The mixture of food waste and residual materials
from sunflower and soybean production is mixed with
30 percent cow manure and pumped into the digester.
“That way, we save about 30 percent of the cost of silage
and don’t have to worry about organizing any logistics,”
says the plant manager Konstadin Radonovic,
standing under his umbrella in the courtyard.
So, he can make his plans for the future without having
to worry. Global Seed aspires to be among the pioneering
plants engaging in biomethane processing, positioned
to commence operations as the feed-in tariff for
the initial plant phase concludes in 2024. In addition,
the company would like to provide heat to the nearby
village of Čurug, including the school and other public
buildings. “Unfortunately, there are no regulations from
the government regarding this yet,” says Radonovic.
But several problems are caused by using organic waste
as a substrate. Because each tank load has a different
composition, the plant has to be carefully supervised
and controlled. “The bacteria inside react immediately
to the changing substrate. I neither want to let them
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BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
starve, nor overfeed them.” Smiling, Konstadin Radonovic
points to the green digester. There is also more
formation of foam in the digester, which he has to combat
by adding oil.
Challenges of Biogas from Residual
Materials for CHP
The pumps get dirty much faster and have to be serviced
more often. The biogas contains more sulphates.
The two Jenbacher CHP systems don’t like that very
much and need to be appeased with more frequent oil
changes. “I then have to discuss the costs with Esotron,”
says the plant manager. The packaging residues
floating on the substrate don’t worry him much, as they
are mainly paper. “Furthermore, we extract the digestate
from the bottom of the facility for use as fertilizer,”
explains Radonovic.
The greater problem is that Esotron is experiencing supply
difficulties. That is why the plant only runs with a
capacity utilization of 70 to 80 percent, although 85
percent were actually agreed on. But Global Seed can
even see that reasonably calmly. “We have a con-
View from the Usce
Tower, where the
Serbian Biogas
Association has
its office.
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57

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Čurug: Agrarian company with a biogas plant by Global Seed.
A truck delivers food waste supplied by Esotron.
Baur Folien GmbH
Gewerbestraße 6
87787 Wolfertschwenden • Germany
tract according to which we pay Esotron on the basis of
the gas yield.”
There is strong demand for waste from Esotron among
biogas plant operators in Serbia. Esotron cannot supply
all the interested parties, mainly due to the lack of
significant waste disposal and separation of household
and commercial waste. However, as an EU accession
candidate, Serbia will have to implement this. Biogas
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could also contribute to the solution by adding value to
organic waste and transforming it into fertilizer.
Agricultural Operation Almex Operates
Three 1-MW Plants
Some of the biogas plants in Serbia are already using
organic waste as a substrate without depending on suppliers
like Esotron. They can access various organic substrates
internally as part of corporations
or corporate networks. An example of this
is Biolife in Crepaja. The plant manager
Dušan Dobriković stands in the drizzling
rain. The entrance to the 1 MW biogas
plant made by an Italian manufacturer
leads past the stables of his employer’s
15,000-animal pig farm, the agricultural
group Almex from nearby Pančevo. Almex
operates a total of three 1 MW plants in
the area.
“When we planned the plants, we originally
wanted to use corn silage from our
own fields as a substrate, mixed with dung
and manure from our livestock farms,”
says Dušan Dobriković, who is actually
a trained food technologist. Next to pig
fattening, Almex also operates a dairy
farm. “But by the time we put the plants
into operation in 2021, everything
58

FOR
POWER
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
PASSION
High-performance
operating supplies
for your
biogas plant
Dušan Dobriković,
operations manager of
the Biolife plant in Crepaja:
“When we planned
the plants, we originally
wanted to use corn silage
from our own fields as
a substrate, mixed with
manure from our livestock
farms. Once we had put
the plants into operation
in 2021, everything had
changed and we were
forced to rethink the
situation.”
Discover
more:
Ten years ago, Global
Seed in Čurug operated
one of the first biogas
plants in Serbia. According
to the plant manager
Konstadin Radanovic,
Global Seed wants to be
one of the first to convert
biogas to methane when
the compensation for
electricity fed into the
grid finishes for the first
part of the plant. They
also want to supply the
school and other official
buildings in nearby Čurug
with heat.
59

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Biogas plant by Biolife in Crepaja. The entrance to the 1 MW facility, built by
an Italian manufacturer, passes by the barns of Almex, an agricultural conglomerate
with a 15,000-animal pig farming operation in nearby Pančevo.
Almex operates a total of three 1 MW plants in the area.
had changed and we were forced to rethink our position.”
Two years of poor harvests, the pandemic and
the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused the price of not
only silage, but also of power and fertilizer to explode.
“But we’re still glad that we made the investment in
good time before the current supply shortages and the
extreme hikes in energy prices for construction material
and machine parts,” says Dobriković. Especially as
Almex has options. Two thirds of the substrate now no
longer consist of manure and silage. As an alternative,
Almex uses organic waste from its own starch plant and
cooking oil production. “So far, we’ve achieved very
good capacity utilization, and the quality is good because
these substrates are much better than the waste
we collected from external suppliers,” Dobriković adds.
In the control room, he points to one of the screens
and nods with satisfaction. With a methane content of
60.4 percent and a hydrogen sulfide concentration of
24 ppm, he can be very satisfied. The company can also
close loops within its own operations. Excess heat not
used for the digester is used to heat the piglet compartments
in the pig barn. Their own fertilizer en-
SCAN
for more
info!
60

BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023 ENGLISH ISSUE
The DonauSoy Initiative comes
from the Vojvodina region,
where soybeans are cultivated,
processed, and traded.
The picture shows the Bankom
oil mill in Obrenovac with
tanks storing soybean oil. In
the background of the image,
there is a coal-fired power
plant on the Save River.
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61

ENGLISH ISSUE
BIOGAS JOURNAL | AUTUMN_2023
Processing corn for a facility that runs primarily on food waste. However,
these alone do not provide the operators with the desired return, and they
are not always available in sufficient quantity and quality.
Biogas plant in Cestereg. The 637-kW plant, which was put into operation
four years ago, is fed with silage, straw and manure from their own cows.
Biogest was the planner of the plant.
sures good results in the fields.
Mihajlo Nakomčić has fewer
options. Behind the farmer,
starlings chirp loudly in the
trees and on the ladder at the
digester as they prepare for
flight training. As planned,
the 24-year-old and his father
run the 637-kW plant with
silage, straw and manure from
his own cows, which was commissioned
four years ago. According to
him, the Biogest plant is running very well.
And on an area of 1,000 hectares, the family-run operation
produced enough silage over the past few years
to be able to fall back on a full stock despite periods of
drought. “But actually, we should sell the silage for the
current prices,” Nakomčić says. But then the biogas
plant would stand idle. He would be only too happy to
buy organic waste – if it were available.
But his biggest problem is the financial difficulties
of the state supplier EPS. For the past three months,
that company has failed to pay for the energy they
have been feeding them. Mihajlo Nakomčić vents his
anger: “We are currently financing the bank loan for
the biogas plant from the harvest yield, which wasn’t
originally planned.” There is no reaction to phone calls
by the headquarters of EPS in Belgrade. As a result,
news about incompetence in the
“We are currently
technical control of the company-owned
power plants is
financing the bank loan
for the biogas plant from the spreading. And blackouts are
occurring.
harvest yields, which wasn’t
But if Mihajlo Nakomčić decided
to sell his power on the
originally planned”
open market, he would lose
Mihajlo Nakomčić
the feed-in tariff agreed on for
twelve years. Furthermore, on
the recommendation of the Serbian
government, electricity prices for both
industries and consumers have been kept
low so far. Therefore, Mihajlo Nakomčić wants a consistent
market opening and greater legal certainty. He
hopes that both aspects will be achieved by entry into
the EU.
Author
Klaus Sieg
Freelance Journalist
Rothestr. 66 · 22655 Hamburg
00 49 171/6 39 42 62
klaus@siegtext.de
www.siegtext.de
62

ENGLISH ISSUE
12 – 14 December 2023
Nuremberg, Germany
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Programme and information:
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ENGLISH ISSUE
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