Autumn 2023 EN

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