Biogas gets the wheels turningPages 4–5

Jordberga– largest plantin Swedenpage 8

Biogas The smart energy alternative for new opportunities

Environmentally friendly workhorse in a city environmentpage 5

Climate-smart, worldclass accommodationpages 6–7

2 about bIoGaS

Text: Sven-E Lindberg | Photo: Gugge Zelander

It’s not just an important part of our future en-ergy system – biogas is also an important part of our everyday lives.

We have more than 50,000 gas-driven vehicles on our Swedish roads today and distances between filling stations are getting shorter. A total volume of biogas equivalent to 1.7 TWh of power is being produced from the 275 biogas plants across the nation. And a number of excit-ing projects are under way for finding new ways of using climate-smart and environmentally friendly biogas.

We’re living in an anxious world with a con-tinuing heavy dependence on imported fossil fu-els. Biogas is made locally and does not run out – the raw material exists here and now and is being renewed all the time. Thus, we are becom-ing less dependent on energy imports from the world around us, while taking important steps to achieve our agreed climate goals.

In other words, there is every reason to exploit the great potential that biogas production repre-sents. Not only because, by doing this, we can produce the large quantities of renewable energy needed in our phasing out of fossil fuels, but also because effective domestic biogas production brings so much more.

In the transition from fossil to renewable fuels, biogas is an important part of the solution.

By turning food waste, manure and waste products into biogas, we can reduce our trans-port needs as we reduce the amount of waste. We also reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, particulates and nitrogen and, most impor-tantly, build a competence which in itself can be an important export commodity.

For us to be able to take advantage of the po-tential found in biogas production, we need, however a long-term, stable and predictable framework of rules to be set in place for dealing with renewable energy. With perseverance and increasing support for clean renewable energy in relation to dirty fossil fuels, we will be seeing many more facilities like the one in Jordberga in Skåne – Sweden's largest biogas plant with direct connection into the nation’s gas grid.

This newspaper is based on the results of the EU LIFE project BIOGASSYS, where various aspects of Swedish biogas production and the large-scale use of biogas have been elucidated from a number of different perspectives.

Aimed at encouraging policy makers, entre-preneurs and other stakeholders within the EU to increase production and the use of biogas, the project will demonstrate a sustainable biogas system and offer solutions and methodologies to overcome the critical steps of the biogas lifecycle.

Per-Johan Wijk, Biogas Syd, Project Leader BIOGASSYS

1 How much biogas is produced in Sweden?

The total amount of biogas pro-duced in Sweden in 2014 amounted to around 1.7 TWh. Most of this, about 40 percent, came from sewage treat-ment plants, 34 percent from sludge digestion plants, 14 percent from landfills and 7 percent from industrial plants. Small-scale biogas production at the farm level was 5 percent of total production.

2 Are there enough waste prod-ucts for everyone to be able to

drive a biogas car?Estimates have been made, show-

ing that if we collect all the food waste in Sweden, we can produce the biogas equivalent of 100 million litres of petroleum a year. If we make use of the cumulative biogas poten-tial from all types of biomass, this would suffice for the production of biogas to fuel 900,000 Swedish cars.

3 What is biogas?Biogas is produced by

anaerobic digestion of biological materials such as food waste and manure. Biogas is produced when organic matter decomposes without oxygen in a process which is called anaerobic decomposition/digestion. This process occurs naturally in the stomach of cows, for example, and in marshes – with the difference that the methane gas in an anaerobic digestion plant is recovered and used as energy instead of escaping as a greenhouse gas. Biogas consists mainly of methane, carbon dioxide and small amounts of impurities/residues.

4 What is Biogas made from?Sweden has chosen a path

where we produce biogas from waste and residues instead of using specially cultivated energy crops. As a result, we can use our valuable agricultural land for food production. The collection of food waste is an important key to success for biogas production.

5 How does a biogas plant work?

In a biogas plant, food waste is mixed with manure and food industry residues in a receiving and mixing tank. The substrate is heated to about 70° for at least an hour so no bacteria will be present in the ensuing process.

From there, the substrate is pumped into an anaerobic digester where it is digested for about a month. Then, from the digested

mass is extracted, amongst other things raw gas, which is then taken on to an upgrading plant and puri-fied of its carbon dioxide content. The gas can then go out into the gas grid or be used at filling stations for gas-driven vehicles.

The residual product is drained of energy, but full of active nutrients and may be used as bio-fertiliser. This can be used to grow new agricultural products – and thus the cycle is complete.

6 What role can biogas play in supplying our energy needs?

According to the most positive calculations, there is potential for an almost tenfold increase in today's biogas production of the equivalent of more than 1.7 TWh with current technology. In that, biogas extraction from forest industry residues has not been taken into account; there is fur-ther potential of more than 50 TWh per year when the technology has been developed for biological treat-ment of cellulose fibres. Thus, biogas is an important part of the solution

to both today's and tomorrow's chal-lenges in switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

7 How can biogas help us achieve our climate goals?

The Swedish government has set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels. At the same time, the use of renewable en-ergy is intended to constitute at least half of total energy usage by 2020.

To achieve these goals requires substantial investments in renewable energy now – and in that, biogas is an energy source with great poten-tial for both the short and the long term. Biogas is a renewable fuel pro-duced locally and is being constantly renewed, as opposed to fossil fuels which are a finite resource that often needs to be transported long dis-tances. The use of biogas produces a significantly lower environmental and climactic impact than fossil fuels, with as much as 90 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions.

7 quick questions about biogasWhy biogas? How should we switch from fossil fuels to renewable? And what role is biogas going to play in today's and tomorrow's sustainable energy systems?

Desirée Grahn, Operations Coordinator at Biogas Syd, answers seven basic questions about biogas:

”By focusing on biogas production we don’t just get renewable energy, but we also utilise waste and residual products in a smart way – and high-grade bio-fertiliser into the bargain”, says Desirée Grahn, Operations Coordinator at Biogas Syd.

Biogas is here to stay

Produced by: Mediahuset Söderberg AB Project leader: Anders Söderberg Editor: Sven-E Lindberg Design: Camilla Lindmark Photo cover: Leif Johansson X-ray foto Repro: Bildrepro Sthlm AB Translation: Geoff Hawkes, GingerBread Printing: Mittmedia Print For supplements contact: Anders Söderberg, Ph: +46 (0)72-313 90 50, anders.soderberg@mediahusetsoderberg.se

percent of the biogas produced in Sweden comes from food waste, sewage sludge and residual products. This means that biogas is a fuel made from waste.

… biogas is a renewable energy source, extracted from biological material that is decomposed by microorganisms in an oxygen-free environment.

… combustion of biogas does not cause any net contribution of greenhouse gases into the at-mosphere. In addition, biogas combustion causes considerably less emission of particulates.

97

MEDIAHUSETSÖDERBERG

LIFE09 ENV/SE/000348

A magazine from BIOGASSYS

Biogas Syd acts as project leader for the EU-financed LIFE project, BIOGASSYSThe partners in BIOGASSYS are Malmö City, the Municipality of Trelleborg, the University of Lund, WSP, E.ON, Biobränsle bolaget and Biogas Syd.

If you have any inquiries regarding the content, contact Daniel Skog, City of Malmö +46 (0)40-34 10 00email: daniel.skog@malmo.se or Desirée Grahn, email: desirée.grahn@biogassyd.se

www.biogassys.se

Biogas Syd is a regional collaborative organisation seeking to promote production and use of biogas in Skåne. This is done through cooperation by the participating organisations in various projects.

➜ Did you know that … ➜ Did you know that …

Phot

o: is

tock

phot

o

ABOUT BIOGAS

The beauty of this sys-tem is that, on a large scale, we can utilise waste products from agriculture and return

both bio-energy and bio-fertilisers, whilst also helping to reduce the emission of nitrogen and green-house gases into the water and the air”, says Torgil Johansson, Chair-man of Skånska Biobränslebolaget, who is one of the partners in Jord-berga Biogas.

Jordberga is not only the largest biogas plant but also the first to supply upgraded biogas from ag-riculture straight into the Swedish gas grid via a 19 km long pipeline. Thus, locally produced biogas can be made use of to drive buses for Skåne's public transport, for in-stance, and also for other users of biogas. One example is the 50,000 motorists who are currently run-ning their vehicles on gas.

Tomorrow's energy todaySweden's largest biogas plant. In Jordberga, northeast of Trelleborg, you find Sweden's largest anaerobic digestion plant for the production of biogas. Here, 110,000 tonnes of green waste from agriculture in the vicinity is processed and turned into biogas, which is used by Skånetrafiken’s buses. In addition, 150,000 tonnes of high-grade bio-fertilisers are being returned to agriculture each year.

Untapped potential“It’s an investment that has

been made on the basis that there is a large untapped potential of residues from agriculture that are not being used. And at the same time we need to increase produc-tion of renewable energy and bio-fertiliser, if we are going to be able to phase out fossil fuels”, says Jo-hansson.

“Besides that, with this type of technological development we’re able to create growth and job op-portunities in rural areas. We are currently four employees at Jor-dberga, but we facilitate employ-ment for ten times as many near-by.”

Behind Jordberga stands Bio-bränslebolaget, formed by a number of Skåne farms, along with Swedish Biogas International, E.ON and Nordic Sugar. The facil-ity has been running for more than one year and is fully operational in April 2015.

“Much development has oc-curred along the way, but today we run the process 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and it works wonderfully well”, Torgil contin-ues. “Partly because within the company we possess extensive ex-pertise from the agricultural sector and partly because in cooperation with the other stakeholders and through projects such as BIOGAS-SYS, we have succeeded in bring-ing together expertise from the

various fields in a very successful way. We have simply learned from each other.

Large scale operationIt is an impressive facility that

rises in the middle of the plain adjacent to the old sugar mill in Jordberga. Here stand four plane silos that can hold 80,000 tonnes of green waste – equivalent to nearly a year's supply – plus large silos for excess grain. In three parallel lines, green mass is then digested in two steps before the gas is treated and upgraded. The residual mass is then stored in five large bio-ferti-liser magazines, each measuring nearly 5,000 cubic metres.

“We chose to invest in a large-scale process, simply because it’s necessary in order to receive fi-nance for the plant”, says Torgil Jo-hansson. At the same time, it was of course a challenge, since there is nothing similar on an equivalent scale in Sweden.”

Today 110 GWh biogas energy is produced per year. This is equiva-lent to more than 11 million litres of petrol. Meanwhile, 150,000 tonnes of high-grade bio-fertilisers can be returned to the Skåne soil.

Tests between cropsThe raw material consists main-

ly of agricultural residues. This can include beet tops and dam-aged beets or corn and grains that do not measure up to commercial standards.

“But we are also testing how, together with SLU Alnarp, we can use interim crops for biogas substrate”, says Johansson. This means that we sow oilseed radish for example, or white mustard im-mediately after the regular harvest – during the period when the soil might otherwise have been fallow.

That way we can capture nitrogen and methane, which instead of es-caping into the water and the air can be used in the production of bio-fertiliser and biogas.”

Great interestIn total, the biogas plant in Jord-

berga contributes to a carbon diox-ide reduction equivalent to 30,000 tonnes per year. That’s as much as the entire Trelleborg Municipality is committed to saving up to 2020.

“But in the future we hope to be able to move another step for-ward by taking advantage of the carbon dioxide from the process and returning it to tomato plan-tations, for instance. At the same time there are great possibilities for expanding the process so that we can accommodate more types of biomass in the future”, says Torgil, who is receiving study groups at the facility in Jordberga just about every week.

“There is great interest and we’re keen to show more people that this concept also works on a large scale. Therefore, we’re invest-ing heavily in training and in the spreading of knowledge – here it’s evident to all that it really works. What we’re missing now, are con-crete and long-term goals and pre-dictable rules and conditions from the government, so we can contin-ue to develop biogas as an energy source and as a part of a larger sus-tainable cycle. The technology and expertise is available and if we can get, for example, tax exemptions for a number of years and some form of investment grants for this type of biogas plant, then biogas could become an important part of the solution to the challenges we face concerning the environment and the climate.”

”We need a long-term regulation framework, that would stimulate the building of more biogas plants”, says Torgil Johansson

... Biobränslebolaget, which is one of the partners in Jordberga Biogas, was formed ten years ago by a number of Skåne farms? The company includes Jordberga, Näsby-holm, Skabersjö and Stora Markie along with the Södra Åby local association and Groba Systems.

... by growing interim crops such as oilseed radish, white mustard, bluebell, buckwheat, green rye, oats and hemp you can greatly increase the amount of biogas substrates using land that would otherwise have remained unutilised.

million has been invested to date in the biogas plant at Jordberga. The facility is owned by Swedish Biogas International, E.ON, Biobränslebolaget and Nordic Sugar.200

Text: Sven-E Lindberg | Photo: Gugge Zelander, Biobränslebolaget

Jordberga produces up to 110 GWh biogas per year – plus 150,000 tonnes of high-grade bio-fertiliser from waste and residual products from agriculture and the food industry.

”At this plant we’re not only producing biogas and bio-fertiliser, but we’re also contributing to technological de-velopment and creating new jobs”, says Torgil Johansson at Skånska Biobränslebolaget, one of the joint owners of Jordberga Biogas, the largest biogas plant in Sweden.

3

➜ Did you know that ... ➜ Did you know that ...SEK

4 ABOUT BIOGAS

We are now in a situation where gas-powered ve-hicles have be-come a viable

alternative to petrol and diesel pow-ered vehicles”, says Staffan Johan-nesson, Business Developer at E.ON Gas, who himself has a history in the automotive industry.

“Engines have got better and bet-ter. We have more filling stations than ever for gas cars. The propor-tion of biogas in the gas system is steadily increasing and there is a growing environmental and climate awareness, resulting in more indi-viduals and businesses becoming interested in alternatives to petrole-um and diesel. It makes gas attrac-tive from many aspects.”

Another factor driving this trend is that the prices of natural gas ve-hicles have fallen in recent times. Previously, a gas car could cost up to SEK 40,000 more than a compara-ble diesel-powered car, but today a gas car costs about the same as one powered by diesel.

“Today we have a mature market where almost everything’s in place for continued strong growth and we see a great development poten-tial for gas-power with an increased proportion of biogas in the system”, says Johannesson

Continued expansionE.ON Gas is currently leading the

market and is the only company that covers the entire chain from production to refuelling. E.ON is also the largest single purchaser of biogas in Sweden. In total there are 150 gas-fuel stations in Sweden and E.ON has 44 of them – the latest one was recently opened in Huddinge.

“There is now a good coverage in southern Sweden up to the level of Uppsala”, says Johannesson. “But we are hoping for a continued ex-pansion of the tank infrastructure also further north in the future, at the same time as we’re working on expanding the filling station net-work even further in southern Swe-den.”

Within the framework of the BI-OGASSYS project, E.ON has studied various applications and business models for biogas.

“Today we see biogas and elec-tricity as the main alternatives to petrol and diesel on the vehicle side”, Staffan continues. “In the longer term, we also see possibili-ties for increased customer interest in using biogas for heating, espe-cially for real estate located within range of the existing gas grid. But

More and more Swedes choose to drive on gas. But what do you get in the tank at the filling station? And what does it mean for the environ-ment to replace the petroleum or diesel car with a gas car?

In 2014, a record amount of vehicle gas-fuel was produced and used in Sweden. Sales of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) increased by eight percent in 2014. Thus, the development of recent years continues, where vehicle gas repre-sents an increasing share of total fuel sales.

To replace the petrol or diesel powered car with a gas car has major advantages for the en-vironment, especially when running on biogas. With natural gas in the tank, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 23 percent per unit of energy – with biogas as much as 93 percent. In addition, emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulates are significantly lower when running on gas.

Biogas increasingBut what do we get in the tank when we fill

the vehicle? The Swedish gas grid currently comprises a mixture of natural gas and biogas. In 2014 almost two-thirds of all vehicle gas-fuel consisted of renewable and environmentally friendly biogas.

If you want to drive in the most environmen-tally friendly way possible, you can buy products that guarantee returning as much biogas into the system as you put into your car. This means that the gas at the individual filling station can con-tain differing amounts of biogas, but by choos-ing eco-labelled, you contribute actively to a corresponding amount of biogas as what you use being returned into the gas grid. It is the same principle as when you purchase green electricity.

Consists of methaneVehicle gas consists mainly of methane.

Natural gas, which is a fossil fuel, and biogas, which is a renewable fuel, have about the same energy content per kilo and can be mixed in the gas network. Biogas is produced mainly from biological waste and manure. There are currently around 270 plants for the production of biogas in Sweden and there are plans for more. So, the proportion of biogas in the vehicle gas network will be increasing accordingly.

In 2014, a total of 123 million kg of CNG was sold (1,613 GWh). About 75 million kilos of that was biogas. The use of vehicle gas-fuel contrib-uted in 2014 to a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions of 225,000 tonnes. Something that contributes to a better environment in the cities as well as a reduced impact on the climate.

An increasing number of filling stations➜ The building of filling stations for vehicle gas continues, and today there is a well-developed network throughout southern and central Sweden. Further north there is ongoing expansion, especially along the main roads and in major cities.➜ In total there are today more than 155 filling stations for vehicle gas, plus around 60 non-public filling stations used by companies and businesses. This means that availability is not an issue and that those who want to run solely on gas can do so.

in the short term, it is mainly on the vehicle side that we’ll be seeing the use of biogas.”

Great interest in public transportAmong municipalities and re-

gions/counties that operate public transport there is already a great in-terest in biogas, both for buses and in the operation of trucks and pas-senger cars used by them.

“Municipalities have an increased interest in solving the waste prob-lem and are increasingly focussing on achieving ambitious environ-mental and climate goals, and with that comes an increased interest in gas operation. Since biogas can be extracted from waste, we can create local cycles in a very good way, at the same time as the biogas offers great advantages from an environ-mental and climate-smart point of view.”

But even from private individuals the interest in gas cars is increas-ing, which is important, especially from the perspective of developing the second-hand market for gas-powered cars.

“Since a used gas-powered car is affordable, safe and environmen-tally friendly, we especially target younger people who have chosen not to have a car for environmental and climatic reasons, so that they will find a used gas-powered vehicle the day they start a family and real-ise that they need a car, after all.”

Long-term rules neededA challenge for the industry and

all who want to run on gas is the lack of long-term rules and regula-tions from the government regard-ing taxation and subsidies in respect of biogas.

“In order to be able to advance to a higher level of gas usage, we need sustainable rules that will give

Facts about vehicle gas✔ Vehicle gas can consist of fossil natural gas or renewable biogas. To-day, approximately 60 percent of all vehicle fuel consists of biogas.✔ Gas cars have considerably less impact on the environment and the climate than petrol and diesel cars. Biogas, for example, emits 90 percent less carbon dioxide than petrol.✔ Gas engines are today just as safe and durable as other engines. The gas tanks are guaranteed to last 20 years or more.✔ Today, there are also products on the market where you pay a little extra to run on 100 percent biogas. The system functions the same as for green electricity – the supplier guarantees to return the equivalent quantity of renewable fuel into the system as the quantity you put in your vehicle.

50,000 cars and over 150 filling stations. More and more people are driving gas cars – and biogas is an increasing proportion of the fuel used in our gas-driven cars. Today there are about 50,000 gas cars in Sweden and about 60 percent of the gas used is climate-friendly biogas.

Biogas as a fuel is here to stay

people the courage to invest in bi-ogas production and biogas vehi-cles. Apart from that, all the pieces are in place. The vehicle industry is constantly investing heavily in de-veloping new and better engines, the refuelling infrastructure is be-ing expanded gradually and there is a great interest among motorists to run on gas.”

Staffan Johannesson has himself been driving on gas for almost 15 years, and cannot imagine going back to petrol or diesel.

“One reason is probably that I am strongly influenced, having worked with gas professionally for so long, but more than that, the ‘driving force’ is still that every time I re-fuel I actually feel that I’m making a good choice for the environment and the climate. That’s a driving force that should by no means be underestimated.”

What do you get in the tank?

gas vehicles existed in Sweden at the turn of the year 2014/2015. Sales of gas-cars and gas-powered buses are expected to keep increasing.

... CNG in 2014 replaced petroleum and diesel to the equivalent of about 110,000 passenger cars? This means that carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 225,000 tonnes during that period!

... you now refuel CNG in kilograms instead of normal cubic metres? 1 normal cubic metre weighs approximately 0.75 kilos.

50,102

Malmöexpressen (the Malmö Express) is currently rolling between Stenkäl-lan and Västra Hamnen in Malmö. The 24 metre long buses are efficient, silent and climate-smart. This bus model is one of the first in the world that runs on electricity and where the batteries are charged by a gas engine.

Text: Sven-E Lindberg | Photo: Gugge Zelander

➜ Did you know that ... ➜ Did you know that ...

5about bIoGaS

1 Biogas is among the most environmen-tally friendly renew-

able fuels on the market. Biogas extracted from waste produces from a life cycle perspective, where you look at all the climate impact from pro-duction to consumption, a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases

of about 90 percent. Biogas produced from manure may in some cases even have a nega-tive effect on emissions, partly because it cap-tures the methane that is produced naturally in a dunghill, and partly because it replaces fossil fuels. As a by-product of the biogas production

process, you also gain a bio-fertiliser which can replace chemical fertilis-ers and return nutrients to the soil. This contrib-utes to the excellence of the system.

2 A gas car is not more expensive to buy. Previously, a

new gas car cost more to buy than an equiva-

lent petrol or diesel car. Today, price levels are about the same.

3Petroleum is eas-ier to ignite than gas. The methane

gas used in a car has a higher ignition tem-perature than petroleum and has a lower density than air. This causes the methane to rise into the

atmosphere. Petroleum vapours are heavier than air and settle along the ground.

4Having a gas car as a company vehicle means

you get a 40 percent discount off your fringe benefit. Until 2016, there will be a discount for all green cars, which means

a 40 percent discount on the fringe benefit. Since fuel is also cheap, using biogas is a good deal.

5The raw material is available, here and now. Biogas

can be extracted from everything from domes-tic waste to agricultural and forestry residues.

Additionally, there are great opportunities to grow interim crops during the time the soil lies fallow between normal growing periods. Sweden can be highly self-reliant in terms of turning raw material into biogas – without needing to use foodstuffs for fuel production.

➜ Five truths about biogas

The problem isn’t oper-ating with biogas or gas in itself – it’s excellent in every way, since gas provides significant en-

vironmental and climate benefits compared with, for example, die-sel”, says Mats Lundkvist, Busi-ness Developer at City of Malmö.

“The major challenge is that the regulatory framework existing today for work machines is not at all suit-ed for instance, to running on biogas and that the supply of gas-powered tractors and work machines running on gas is still limited.”

Malmö at the forefrontFor a long time, Malmö has been

at the forefront when it comes to testing and implementing environ-

mental and climate friendly technol-ogies. The city’s own organisation is running machines on clean diesel, EcoPar, electricity and biogas/natu-ral gas.

“There’s no standard fuel suitable to all contexts, but we try to find the best possible solution, based on the city’s environmental requirements and the demands placed on the ma-chine for it to function in the busi-ness. And then the choice can vary depending on what the machine will be used for and what the market has to offer.

Immediately took the baitFor a long time Mats Lundkvist

has been wanting to try out a gas tractor as a supplement to the diesel-powered vehicles that are currently

Biogas tractor. Around 50,000 cars are running today on gas and where public transport is concerned, just over 2,000 buses use gas. But when it comes to gas tractors, there are only a handful in operation – despite the fact that biogas has great advantages over for example diesel when it comes to tractors for agricultural use, in municipal services or within the building industry.

in use for everything from road-sweeping to snow removal and rub-bish disposal.

“The problem has been finding gas tractors at all. So, we took the bait immediately when the Finn-ish company, Valtra came out with a test conversion of five tractors in Sweden”, says Mats Lundqvist.

The City of Malmö succeeded in leasing one of them and it has now been running for eighteen months – halfway through the lease period.

“Problems nearly always crop up when you start operating with new fuels, but the biogas tractor has been working a treat”, says Mats. “It’s in use seven days a week and has done more than 1,000 hours without any problems. Our drivers don’t think there’s much difference compared with running on diesel – apart from the fact that its emissions are signifi-cantly cleaner.”

Great benefitsRefuelling is no problem either.

There are currently seven gas filling stations around Malmö and the pro-portion of biogas in the Swedish gas network is just over 60 percent.

“Running times are adequate for us and we see great advantages in gas, especially in the centre of town where we want to keep emissions down as much as possible. So, we use the gas tractor for pulling a sweeper, in central Malmö. But it also functions excellently for doing winter-time jobs.”

The big challenge when it comes to tractors running on biogas is that there is still no regulatory framework for registration of industrial vehicles operating with gas and that there are no long-term models for taxation and/or subsidies for biogas”, Mats points out.

“This is slowing down develop-ment and that’s regrettable, because biogas is a good and clean alterna-tive to diesel, for example. On top of that, we have plenty of raw mate-rial and a well-developed gas filling station network – so everything is actually in place. With a little de-velopment of the vehicles, including automatic transmission and ideally, slightly smaller models suitable for urban traffic, I can see great possi-bilities of our running more tractors on biogas in Malmö.”

The biogas tractor – a reliable workhorse

The City of Malmö is currently testing a biogas tractor with very positive results so far. The tractor functions just as well as a diesel tractor does.

• Both biogas and natural gas also offer the advan-tage of producing less hazardous emissions, which are currently causing health problems.The vehicle

gas contains very low levels of sulphur, basically no aromatic hydrocarbons and additionally pro-duces less soot (particulate matter) and nitrogen

oxides during combustion compared with diesel. In short, urban air is healthier to breathe when petrol and diesel cars are replaced with gas cars.

Health aspects:

Text: Sven-E Lindberg | Photo: Gugge Zelander

Jan Andersson, City of Malmö.

Illus

trat

ion:

isto

ckph

oto

about bIoGaS

It feels great to live this well and at the same time be able to live without burden-ing the environment and cli-mate needlessly”, say Tomasz

Dziechciowski and Charlotta Ifwer, as they show us around their unique apartment in Västra Hamnen in Malmö.

“The beauty of it is that the de-signers have succeeded in combin-ing an exciting and pleasant living environment with high-tech en-vironmental thinking, in the best possible way without it feeling as though it limits us in our daily life. On the contrary – here it’s easy to do the right thing.”

Living in a test labThe house they live in is owned

by the energy company E.ON and is, one might say, a full-scale labo-ratory for sustainable living. In the seven apartments (one of which is used as a demonstration apartment) various climate-smart solutions are

being tested for everything from heating and waste management to production and storage of energy, as well as refuelling and recharging of electric and gas vehicles directly ad-jacent to the apartment.

With each apartment you also get a gas or electric car, an electric bicy-cle/moped, and when needed, the possibility of using larger green cars through SunFleet. On the roof of the house there are solar panels and a wind turbine that are connected to a storage tank and a battery pack to store energy in the property.

“Here you have basically all you need for climate-smart everyday liv-ing under one roof, but with differ-ent solutions in the different apart-ments”, says Tomasz. “We have, for example, an electric car outside our house while our neighbour runs on gas.”

Own electricityTomasz and Charlotta's apart-

ment is heated by means of a gas-powered heat pump and the radia-tors are recessed into the floor in front of the large glass windows facing the street and the courtyard.

“You never think of the fact that they’re driven by gas”, says Tomasz. “It’s only when they start up that you might hear a few little clicks. It’s only when we have the open gas stove going in the orangery that we’re reminded of the gas operation – and that’s actually quite cosy and pleasant.”

The energy from the solar panels on the roof is used, among other things, to heat the pool in summer and in winter the excess energy is led out into loops under the street to melt away snow and ice.

“These days we seldom have snow for long periods here in Skåne, but when we’ve had any, the street has been free of it.”

Charlotta and Thomasz apart-ment also has a direct link to one of the solar panels on the roof.

“That makes us feel we have the whole cycle in place. We’re not just consumers of energy, but we’re also

Climate-smart world class accommodationThe Sustainability House. Tomasz and Charlotta have not only found their dream home in the best location in Västra Hamnen in Malmö – they also live in what is possibly Sweden's environmentally smartest apartment block. A house where there are ultra-modern kitchen solutions, fireplace, orangery, private patio, pool and sauna. Everything is powered by renewable energy – biogas being a main ingredient.

Facts about Hållbarheten (the Sustainability House)

producing electricity. And even if it doesn’t earn us large amounts of money, it still feels good to be able to contribute to the energy system, not just be users of it.”

Are involved in making a differenceTomasz has lived in Hållbarheten

in Västra Hamn for just over two years, while Charlotta moved in during the summer of 2014. Both love living there, not just because they like the apartment and the lo-cation, but also because they feel that they are involved in making a difference for the environment and the climate.

“The reason I looked here from the start, was that I lived in a green building when I went to medical school in Umeå”, says Tomasz. “What we did included taking care of the food waste that went to biogas production – and all that sparked my interest in going for an altogether sustainable lifestyle.”

When E.ON went out in search of tenants wanting to participate in the project with “Hållbarheten” in Västra Hamnen, Tomasz was head-ing back to Malmö, and he was not slow in expressing his interest. Tomasz got the chance to view the apartment along with some 30 other interested people.

Was totally Blown away“I was totally blown away, partly by the apartment itself and partly by all the intelligent solutions. And I was

lucky enough to be able to rent the very apartment I looked at. It felt like a fantastic opportunity, to be in-volved in evaluating and developing new solutions for how we can live even more environmentally friendly and climate-smart lives.”

“Living in a technology-packed house with 100 or so measuring points in each apartment and a vari-ety of new technologies has exceed-ed our expectations”, say Charlotta and Tomasz.

“If we’ve been surprised it’s rather been in a positive way, but if there’s ever been any problem, it’s always been possible to solve, thanks to having good dialogue with E.ON”, says Tomasz, pointing out that good can always be even better.

“There are, for example, things to do with the operation of the sys-tems that could be made simpler and clearer, but as a whole it works great.”

With inspiration from ChileAnyone visiting Charlotta and

Tomasz would not at first be struck by the fact that the house is full of climate-smart technology, but more than anything else by the spacious-ness, the light and the pleasant in-door climate.

“The apartment has drawn inspi-ration from Chile, with its pleasant climate and abundant greenery both indoors and outdoors”, says Char-lotta.

On the second floor, facing the

✔ The building was designed by Cord Siegel and is owned by E.ON. The property has seven apart-ments, one of which is a demonstration unit.

✔ The apartment which Charlotta and Tomasz are living in has 130 square metres and is heated by means of a gas-powered heat pump and recessed

radiators along the win-dows. The kitchen stove is also powered by gas, as well as the fireplace in the orangery. The apartment is connected to a solar panel.

✔ The carport has a charging station for an electric car and an electric bicycle. The neighbouring apartment has a biogas filling station directly

adjacent to the property. In the ground there are loops heated by surplus energy from the solar panels on the roof.

✔ The patio is framed by dense greenery and has a connection for a gas barbe-cue. Adjacent to the patio there is also a pool heated by solar energy and an

“Biogas provides a comforta-ble indoor climate”

Tomasz and Charlotta love their apartment in the environmentally friendly house,”Hållbarheten” at Västra Hamnen in Malmö. From the sofa in the sitting-room they can see Turning Torso, while enjoying the warmth from the gas fireplace and the greenery in their own orangery.

Text: Sven-E Lindberg | Foto: Gugge Zelander

On the roof of E.ON’s house, Hållbarheten there are solar panels as well as a wind turbine. The energy is used both in the households and to heat the 20 metre pool.

6

about bIoGaS 7

street, there is an orangery with a gas fireplace and lots of green plants and behind that is the living room with a corner lounge recessed into the floor and bookshelves built into the wall.

“It creates a very special environ-ment, and this is really all you could wish for. One possible exception is storage space – the technology has been hidden behind the walls, tak-ing up some of the space that would otherwise be allocated for storage cupboards. But we’ve learned to live with a little less stuff – and that might not be a bad thing either.”

No food waste in the kitchenThe open kitchen has a large is-

land unit with a built-in gas stove which can be accessed from two sides.

“We both enjoy cooking, so we’re often standing here working togeth-er, both when we cook for ourselves and when we’re having guests”, says Charlotta. And the waste dis-posal unit by the sink is another smart detail. Here we can grind all the food waste straight away and then pump everything out into the recycling building. This means that we never have to deal with smelly food waste in the apartment.”

Other convenient features include a central vacuum cleaner that is also connected to a container in the recy-cling building and the possibility of using the sauna as well as taking a swim in the 20-metre pool.

electrically heated sauna.✔ On the roof there are solar cells that produce electricity for the apart-ments. The solar collector heats the water in the pool

as well as the apartments. On the roof there is also a wind turbine which is connected to one of the apartments.

Using a special app, Tomasz and Charlotta can control everything from the internal heating system, to checking on how much gas the stove is using.

One of the most popular solu-tions in “Hållbarheten” (the Sustainability House) in Västra Hamnen is the ability to charge/refuel your car right outside the gate. Charging stations for elec-tric cars are available for several of the apartments, but it is also possible to refuel biogas in the driveway.

“We want to test a concept which uses the proximity to the existing gas network for filling your tank at home, where you live, or where you park your car for a longer period”, says Staffan Johannesson, Business Development Manager at E.ON Gas Sweden.

Since it is possible to refuel over a longer period of time, the com-pressor can be made simpler. For the customer, it means that the car can be put on refuelling when you come home from work and that you can drive away on a full tank the next morning.

“There are a number of th-resholds for us to cross in order to be able to develop this on a slightly larger scale”, says Staffan Johannesson. “Firstly, we must have a good concept with the right technology, and secondly we need to have a workable commercial model. At the same time, as a supplier we have to be able to ensure that the gas is actually used as fuel and not in any other way, since tax rates differ de-pending on the application.”

A prerequisite for being able to refuel gas at home is also proxi-mity to an existing gas network.

“We see it as an interesting ni-che concept and as a supplement to regular filling stations. And we have gas nets in large parts of the country, not just along the major natural gas network, but there are also local biogas networks in seve-ral cities like Kristianstad, Skövde, Norrköping and Stockholm, where this can become an interesting possibility.”

Refuel gas in the carport!

”Can be a supplement for regular filling sta-tions”

“Since we’re only six tenants in the building, it’s like living in a house. There’s plenty of room and we don’t need to feel crowded but can still benefit from the commu-nity feeling in the house”, explains Tomasz.

App control Using a special app for the phone

and tablet Charlotta and Tomasz are able to monitor information from the more than 100 measuring points in the apartment and control every-thing, from indoor temperature to checking the gas used in the kitchen.

“The app is a techno-nerd’s dream and has lots of information”, says Tomasz. “We can register how much gas we’ve used for cooking, see if

the coffee machine is on or in stand-by mode, and set different tempera-tures in different rooms at different times of the day. And via the app, we can also make sure that the car and the bike are being charged up at night, when electricity is cheapest.”

Today, Charlotta and Tomasz are getting a discount on the rent and access to an electric car and an electric bicycle as compensation for being "test pilots" in Hållbarheten. What happens when the project pe-riod is over in about a year, they do not know.

“But returning to a ‘normal’ type of accommodation would be ex-tremely difficult. This becomes a way of life – and then you can’t just go back.”

ABOUT BIOGAS

8 ABOUT BIOGAS

Text: Sven-E Lindberg | Photo: Ewa Levau

Text: Sven-E Lindberg

It’s an efficient and reliable technology, and we’ve gained much useful experience from this project”, says Joannis Ververidis, production engi-

neer at Stadsfastigheter in Malmö and responsible for the installation of the gas-powered heat pump at the day centre in Limhamn.

Stadsfastigheter has gas boilers in approximately 70 properties in Malmö and when three years ago it was time to replace the old and not very energy efficient gas boiler at the old fire station in Limhamn, the idea was to try to find a more efficient heating solution based on gas. The choice fell on a gas-pow-ered heat pump based on absorp-tion technology. The design and evaluation of the installation has been done together with others, including E.ON under the project BIOGASSYS.

Proven technology“With the old type of gas boil-

ers we could at best achieve an efficiency of 80-90 percent, but with the gas-powered heat pump we were able to reach around 120 percent right from the start”, says Ververidis. “Since then, we have been gradually adjusting and adapting it, and in 2014 we had achieved an average efficiency of 136 percent. We do however expect to reach a bit further still, when we install a new control system later this spring.”

In the rest of Europe, gas is used for heating on a large scale, but in Sweden, the market has been more cautious. This, despite the fact that heating with condensing gas boil-ers has long been considered to be the fossil heating option with the lowest environmental impact, and irrespective of the fact that there is a well-developed gas network in Sweden. A gas network that is not only used for fossil natural gas but where the gas is increasingly com-posed of mixed environmental and climate-friendly biogas.

Increasing interest“We see a growing interest in al-

ternative heating methods that are both effective and can be powered by renewable energy, especially from clients with larger proper-ties”, says Theo Blom, business developer at E.ON Gas Sweden.

“Gas-powered heat pumps have many advantages. The efficiency is high, operation and maintenance

Gas powered heat pump provides efficient heatingGas-powered heat pump. Gas has great potential not only as a vehicle fuel, but also for heating homes and buildings. In Malmö, Sweden's first gas-powered heat pump with absorption technology has been installed at a day centre in Limhamn’s old fire station - with promising results.

costs are low and it’s an environ-mentally and climatically attrac-tive option, since the gas-powered heat pump can run on both fossil natural gas and climate-friendly biogas.”

First of its kind“In a property, such as the one

in Limhamn, which is already connected to the gas network and where the usage of hot water is limited, the gas-powered heat pump is a superior heating alterna-tive”, says Theo Blom at E.ON

"The gas heater that was previ-ously in the property had an output of 160 kW and a relatively low ef-ficiency rating, but today the heat-ing is looked after by a 36 kW gas-powered heat pump and an 80 kW condensing boiler, where a gas-powered heat pump supplies 90 percent of the energy. That is pow-erful energy efficiency, at the same time as it opens up for carbon neu-tral operation with biogas.”

Great benefitsJoannis Ververidis of Stadsfas-

tigheter in Malmö is also seeing the great benefits of using gas-powered heat pumps.

“I hope we’ll be seeing more and larger facilities so that we can evaluate the operation on a larger scale, and in the long run this is a very interesting technology. The gas-powered heat pump may cost a little more to install, but in return it’s highly efficient and requires less maintenance than for example an electric heat pump, because the sys-tem contains few moving parts. We also avoid reliance on electricity.”

”With the gas heat- pump we can achieve an effect of 130-140 percent”, says Joannis Ververidis at Malmö Stadsfastigheter.

We are getting better at utilising our leftovers. In 2014, in Malmö, more than 36 percent of all food waste was recycled. Of the 10 000 tonnes of food that was collected, large quantities of environmentally friendly biogas was produced and used to drive Skånetrafikens buses.

“This shows that all of us, by just taking simple action in our everyday life can be involved in making a difference”, says Daniel Skog, of Malmö City’s Environment Department and communica-tor for BIOGASSYS. By placing food wastes in a brown paper bag instead of in a regular rubbish bag, we contribute both to a better environment in our cities and a reduced climactic impact.

The government's goal is that by 2020, we should be able to extract energy from at least 40 percent of all food waste in the country. Malmö is one of several municipalities that have chosen to set more ambitious goals. By 2015 at the lat-est, 40 percent of all food waste is to be recycled in Malmö – and there is much to indicate that this goal will be achieved during this year.

Enough for all the buses“This is a development we have reason to be

proud of”, says Skog. Almost every household in Malmö and the is currently able to recycle food waste and an increasing number are doing it. However, it’s still only just over 40 percent of businesses that recycle food waste. In most cases, the waivers that have been granted are due to expire during 2015.

But the goal is of course for everyone to both minimise and take care of their leftovers.

“There is still a huge untapped potential in food waste”, says Daniel Skog. “We’ve calculated that if everyone in Malmö recycled their food waste, we could produce enough biogas to run all the city buses in Malmö. And by so doing, we could replace the dirty fossil fuels with clean and renewable ones such as biogas. And we get large amounts of valuable bio-fertiliser into the bar-gain that can be used for agricultural purposes.”

Food waste plays a key roleFood waste is playing, Skog explains, a key

role in the transition from fossil to renewable fuels.

“It’s a resource that’s close to hand and easily accessible and we have established and well-functioning methods for managing food waste biologically through anaerobic digestion and processes for upgrading to biogas. Additionally, there is now a good infrastructure for refuel-ling with biogas. In other words, everything is in place – now it’s just a matter of utilising the potential we have, to the full.”

More and more people sort their food waste

Facts about gas-powered heat pumps:✔ A gas-powered heat pump with absorption technology works much the same way as an old-style fridge – the only dif-ference being that you take out heat for heating and hot water instead of cold.

✔ Efficiency is often between 130 and 140 percent, but can reach up to 170 percent. It thus provides more energy than is put into the system because the installation also uses energy from air and water.

✔ The gas-powered heat pump contains no climate-changing media and can be powered by both natural gas and biogas.

Great potentialBoth Theo Blom and Joannis

Ververidis see great potential for gas-powered heat pumps in Swe-den.

“In Europe, this type of installa-tion is common and we see great opportunities on the Swedish mar-ket, partly because it is an energy efficient solution, and partly be-cause it can be operated entirely on carbon-neutral biogas”, says Theo Blom at E.ON. If we are to achieve the environmental goals, heating methods play a vital role, and we at E.ON see gas-powered heat pumps as an important part of the solution.”

... there is a clear correlation bet-ween how much food waste we recy-cle and how good we are at sorting other fractions in our rubbish.

... if we made biogas from all food waste generated in Sweden for a year, we could replace the equivalent of 100 million litres of petrol.

... the amount of food waste recycled in-creased by 11 kilograms per person in 2014 in Malmö. Residual waste was also cleaner than ever before – Malmö residents have never before been recycling so well.

kg of food waste is generated, on average per person per year in Sweden. An increasing proportion of this food waste is biologically treated to produce biogas and bio-fertiliser.

Within BIOGASSYS, we have been able communicate about food waste and bi-ogas with the residents of Malmö. Thanks to our campaigns, more Malmö residents have come to understand the connection between these two issues.

➜ Did you know that … ➜ Did you know that … ➜ Did you know that …

Photo: istockphoto

81

ABOUT BIOGAS

● The facility at Anneberg outside Svalöv in Skåne is a bio-refinery pilot plant now run by Indienz AB, a spin-off company from the University of Lund. Here, researchers, students

and representatives from industry are carrying out tests and evaluations of processes for extracting biogas, bio-fertiliser and chemicals from biomass.

● The raw material in the bio-refinery is waste from agriculture and forestry and the process extracts biogas, bio-fertiliser and chemicals, e.g. for the production of biodegradable plastics.

● The facility has studied how different types of biomass can be pre-treated prior to their being refined. An important develop-ment has been the use of bacteria and various types

of microorganisms that can facilitate the anaerobic digestion of cellulose, for example, in agriculture and forestry residues.

Bo Mattiasson, professor emeritus in biotechnol-ogy at Lund Institute of Technology, has for many years been inter-

ested in methods and processes that allow for the use of biomass instead of fossil raw materials in the production of energy and chemicals. A large part of the re-search and development has been conducted on the Anneberg farm outside Svalöv in Skåne.

This is where, just over two years ago, Sweden’s first bio-refinery was inaugurated as a pilot project to test new raw materials and new processing methods for the pro-duction of biogas and chemicals.

Huge potential“There are many producers of

bio-energy carriers and bio-fertilis-

The bio-refinery. “We need to see waste and residues as a resource, not a problem. By developing new processes to take advantage of biomass from agriculture, forestry, households and industry, we can produce large quantities of renewable energy – but also extract everything from high-grade bio-fertiliser to valuable chemicals.”

"There is an enormous potential if we can use residual forestry products”

er from biomass, both in Sweden and elsewhere, but it’s usually done through relatively conserva-tive procedures, and there is much scope for development of process technology”, says Bo Mattiasson.

“We have carried out studies to find out how much gas a given biomass can produce, and on the basis of that determined how we can formulate and blend different biomasses in order to improve gas exchange.”

Can use waste productsAn important track has been try-

ing to find ways to pre-treat waste products from agriculture and for-estry – materials that are today mainly left lying on the ground un-used or ploughed into the soil.

“We shouldn’t be using crops and materials that can be used for food production to make biogas and chemicals, but the challenge is to develop processes that allow us to take advantage of all the waste ma-terial from agriculture and forest-ry”, explains Prof. Mattiasson. “And nobody eats straw or forestry lefto-vers. For this reason, we’ve been working on processes whereby with the help of microorganisms we can pre-treat ‘indigestible’ cellulose so that it can be used in the biogas

process – and get bio-fertiliser into the bargain, that can be returned to the ground, to improve the soil.“

Refining increases the valueAnother focus area has been to

develop processes that make it pos-sible to extract chemicals and to separate, for example, heavy metals and other substances from the bio-mass.

“Extraction of chemicals and ma-terials yields ten times the value of production and can create entirely new incentives to start up this kind of plant”, says Mattiasson. “At the same time, it creates a cycle with gains in all areas, especially if you can also separate and remove en-vironmentally harmful substances from the cycle. This is how we could very significantly contribute to a faster achievement of our agreed environmental and climate goals – whilst at the same time creating both jobs and economic benefits.”

Optimising outputThe benefits of bio-refining in

place of petrochemical refining are many, besides the fact that the raw material is renewable, in place of fossil fuels.

“By using the biomass that today is left on the ground or ploughed into the soil, we reduce the leakage of nitrogen into rivers and seas at the same time as we are prevent-ing processes that generate large emissions of the greenhouse gas, methane into the air. Instead, the nitrogen is reused and made avail-able for new crops while the meth-ane is upgraded to biogas and can

be used for vehicle fuel or heating. This creates a double benefit.”

“The potential for use of biomass on a large scale is enormous”, says Prof. Mattiasson. “Some estimates suggest that the release of green-house gases could be reduced by five to six percent if we take care of the biomass instead of just leaving it lying around.”

Long-term rules needed“The major challenge today is

to establish sustainable rules and incentives for the development and building of plants that can take care of biomass in an efficient way”, says Bo Mattiasson.

“This is why we need a clearly expressed desire from politicians to really focus on taking care of the huge resource that the residues from agriculture and forestry, along with waste from households and industries, represent. When that occurs, there will be profits to gain at all levels. We can phase out fos-sil fuels such as petrol and diesel, replacing them with renewable biogas and in some cases with bi-odiesel, we can reduce the leach-ing of nitrogen and methane emis-sions, and we can create a better cycle where we take advantage also of those substances that we do not want back in the fields”.

“In addition to that, we can cre-ate more jobs and develop tech-nologies that have the potential of being very significant for the Swed-ish economy, as well as providing opportunities for poor countries to produce their own energy and their own chemicals.”

A future gold mine

9

➜ Anneberg – Sweden’s first bio-refinery

In the bio-refinery new processes are tested for produc-tion of biogas and chemicals.

Text: Sven-E Lindberg | Photo: LTH, Indienz

different processes are used for the production of biogas in Sweden. With anaerobic digestion, biogas is given off from the decomposition of organic material in an oxygen-free environment. The second process is thermal gasifi-cation, where trees and carbonaceous products are heated to produce biogas.

TWh – that’s how big the biogas potential is for thermal gasification of forestry residues, ac-cording to some studies. The 2014 production of biogas was approximately 1.7 TWh.74 2... biogas consists mainly of

methane and can be used both to heat and for electricity and vehicle fuel.

➜ Did you know that …

10 ABOUT BIOGAS

Hello there,… André Andersen, NA13, Söderslätt Senior High School in Trelleborg:

How did you come into contact with the Biogas Centre in Trelle-borg?

I’m doing 2nd year of the science programme at Söderslätt Senior High School and we had a theme week about sustainable development from a local perspective. Because of that, I was attending some lectures at the Biogas Centre and here we got information about the work that the municipality is doing through the biogas project and we were also told about the large biogas plant at Jordberga outside Trelleborg. We were given the "Small textbook about biogas in a rubbish bag”, which the Centre has developed.

What are your thoughts about the “Small textbook about biogas in a rubbish bag”

The information in it is really excel-lent and attention-grabbing. A lot of facts have been crammed into a little space. I think biogas is interesting and I was also impressed by how much ahead our municipality is with its development. It's really cool to think that Trelleborg is the third-best city in Europe when it comes to biogas devel-opment!

It began as a discussion in 2007 between seven inter-ested parties in Skåne. Two years later, Biogas Syd, E.ON, Lund University, the City of

Malmö, Biobränslebolaget, WSP and Trelleborg Municipality de-cided to apply for a grant to run a joint biogas project - BIOGASSYS. The project's main objective is to demonstrate the potential of biogas as an energy source and as a tool for reducing greenhouse gas emis-sions.

The application went through and an important part of the project, half of which was funded by the EU, was the creation of a bi-ogas centre in Trelleborg.

“We have a lot of arable land, 86 percent of the land in Trelleborg is cultivated, and thus we have many

farmers who can take care of waste products. In addition, our coasts are filled with algae that can be di-gested into biogas. This, combined with the proximity to the biogas plant in Jordberga, which is the largest in Sweden, contributed to our getting a biogas centre”, says Anitha Ljung, Director of the Bi-ogas Centre and Climate and Sus-tainability Coordinator at the Plan-ning & Administration Department in Trelleborg.

Hub for biogasA former caretaker’s dwelling

and service facility for the hospital was made available and renovated. And then, in 2012 the Trelleborg Biogas Centre was inaugurated, which has become something of a trademark for the entire City of Trelleborg.

“Our goal is to make Skåne a leading region for sustainable en-ergy”, says Anitha Ljung. “We want Trelleborg to have a prominent place in this project. The centre will also be a hub for the demonstration of the biogas situation, its develop-ment and future.”

Outside it is a windy winter evening, but inside the beauti-ful brick building it is warm and there is a smell of good coffee and pastries. Tonight the traditional monthly meeting for all who are in-terested is being held in the Biogas Centre, and on this particular occa-sion the lecture is about how algae can be digested into biogas and about why Trelleborg is the world

leader in this.“We want to create a meeting

place and therefore we organise lectures, open to anyone who is in-terested. We gather here in the con-ference room to listen, learn and ask questions. Afterwards we serve coffee in the exhibition area.”

Long-distance guestsThe core of the centre consists

of an educational exhibition that explains the basic principles of biogas production. It also tells the history of biogas, its development and applications. Our vast range of visitors includes pensioner groups, school classes, politicians and peo-ple from other nations.

“We have guests from far away who come on brief visits, but we also have an exchange with coun-tries such as Namibia and Chile”, says Anitha.

The goal of the centre is to reach out to as many people as possible, partly with technical information but also with news about biogas development in Skåne as well as general information about biogas.

“But we also display the contents of the other activities within the BI-OGASSYS project.”

Target groups are technical ex-perts and policy makers at various levels, both nationally and inter-nationally, as well as government agencies, utilities, industries and agricultural experts. But it is also important to reach teachers and students in primary and secondary schools, local businesses, farmers

Biogas Centre of Excellence. The Trelleborg Biogas Centre has become a hub for sustainable energy in Skåne. It hosts lectures, training courses and conferences on biogas from different aspects and there are also field trips arranged from this centre to various biogas plants in Skåne.

“In time we hope to be able to develop partnerships with colleges and universities”, says Anitha Ljung, Director of the Biogas Centre.

➜ Voices from the Trelleborg Biogas Centre

● Berit and Bo Mölle-back, former farmers, now retired, Stora Beddinge;

“We have a general inter-

est in biogas and wanted

to come here and listen.

We have as yet no personal

experience of biogas in our

everyday lives, but live near

Jordberga which has Swe-

den’s largest biogas plant.

It’s very interesting and we

have been there on field trips

and had a look. It's exciting to

see what you can use waste

products for and we feel this

is important for the future.

We have as yet no waste

separation where we live

but it will be implemented in

2016, which we look forward

to. We’ve noticed that there’s

an increased interest in

biogas and we think that’s

a positive thing. Tonight we

hope for answers as to how

to use algae from the south

coast in a good way.”

Inga Berggren, Trelleborg;

“I am generally inter-

ested in what happens in

the Trelleborg area. Since

we’ve had a lot of problems

with seaweed and algae, in

Smyge for example, I think

it's interesting to hear about

why and how to use the al-

gae in an alternative way. It's

very good if they can be of

use. I have a strong belief in

biogas and have also visited

the biogas plant in Jordberga

to see how it works. So far, I

have no personal experience

of biogas, we have not even

”I think biogas is interesting.”

Text: Anki Linderoth | Photo: Gugge Zelander

“Our goal is to make Skåne a leading region for sustainable energy and the Biogas Centre is a significant knowledge-hub for this project”, says Anitha Ljung, Director of the Trel-leborg Biogas Centre.

… algae can be used as a substrate for the production of biogas. By the use of algae, we can help solve both the eutrophication problem and get valuable energy as well.

... biogas contains between 40 and 80 percent methane and the remainder is carbon dioxide. When upgrading biogas, it is purified of its carbon dioxide. Upgraded biogas is also called biomethane.

percent of all biogas produced in Sweden in 2013 was upgraded to vehicle gas and 31 percent was used for heating54

Stinking algae turned into biogas

➜ Did you know that… ➜ Did you know that…

A knowledge hub for sustainable energy

Phot

o: is

tock

phot

o

Phot

o: is

tock

phot

o

Eutrophic seas generate large amounts of

algae that spread across the surface of the

sea, and lie in fetid piles on the beaches.

In Trelleborg, with its long beaches, the algae

problem is evident for a large part of the year.

Since this is the case, to keep the beaches

clean, large quantities of algae need to be

removed. Some of this algae is used today in

the production of biogas.

A pilot plant has been built in Smygehamn,

next to Sweden's southernmost point. There,

both the production of biogas from algae

and the purification of sewer water by the

cultivation of microalgae is being carried out.

The microalgae can later be used along with

the algae from the beaches in the biogas

plant.

The facility, where both purification of sew-

age and getting benefit from foul-smelling

seaweed by turning it into climate-smart

biogas is probably the first of its kind in the

world.

11about bIoGaS

Looking ahead: Biogas is on the way, but taking different pathsThe swedish biogas market has grown rapidly over the last 10-15 years, and is continuing to grow. From an international perspective, Sweden is looking good when it comes to technology and systems for the production of biogas in a smart and sustainable way. And especially by focusing on the use of waste and residues for extracting energy instead of growing energy crops. By doing this, valuable agricultural land can be used to produce food and not energy.

When it comes to gas utilisation at large, however, Sweden is hardly at the cutting edge. Across much of Europe, a large proportion of property heating is taking place by means of different gas solutions, but then usually based on the combustion of fossil gas. In contrast, Sweden is a long way ahead in terms of pu-rification of biogas to vehicle quality, and its expansion of the gas filling station network.

The consultancy company WSP has, as part of the BIOGASSYS project, conducted a survey on the role of biogas, in a number of European countries.

“We looked at the UK, Germany and Fin-land”, says Charlotte Hauksson, Environmental Consultant at WSP. “And we were able to see that different paths had been chosen, depend-ing on the circumstances and needs of each country.”

In England there is a well-developed gas net-work, but very little biogas is pumped into the grid. But the interest is increasing.

“In Finland, there’s great interest in green energy production, chiefly with a focus on electricity generation with high ‘feed-in tariffs’ for green power”, says Stefan Dahlgren, Head of the Gas Business Area at WSP. “There’s also an interest in biogas for vehicular use, but so far we don’t have a developed filling station network.”

In Germany, however, there are more than 900 filling stations for natural gas vehicles, but what you find at the pumps is mainly fossil natural gas. Instead, the emphasis has been on biogas-powered electricity generation and pow-erful instrumentation has been implemented for the supply of green electricity into the grid.

“One important reason why countries such as Germany and Denmark are investing in electricity production from biogas is that they don’t have hydropower, and that makes it more interesting for them to use biogas in that con-text”, says Dahlgren.

One aspect repeatedly lost in the discussion is that biogas production generates so much more in terms of benefits than simply biogas.

“By producing biogas the way we do in Swe-den, waste is actually turned into a resource we can make use of, and ultimately we don’t just get biogas, but bio-fertilisers as well”, says Charlotte Hauksson.

The big challenge for Sweden and other countries, according to Stefan Dahlgren and Charlotte Hauksson, is to create long-term rules that favour the development, production and use of renewable energy.

“If we’re going to succeed in converting to renewable energy, we somehow have to make it beneficial in relation to using fossil energy. That’s the bottom line.”

and stakeholder networks.“But reaching out with our mes-

sage to schoolchildren is probably, after all, what we are most passion-ate about”, says Anitha Ljung.

Textbook in a rubbish bagFor the purpose of reaching the

schools, the Biogas Centre has de-veloped an unconventional folder called "Small textbook in a rubbish bag"

“It’s a textbook divided into fold-ers, one for each chapter, which we distribute in brown food waste bags. It has become hugely popular in schools throughout Sweden and we actually ran out of stock almost immediately, but we have now printed up more.”

Any interested person, not just students but also other groups who book an appointment with the Bi-ogas Centre, will first get a theoreti-

cal overview of the showroom and then continue on, either to the larg-est biogas plant, Jordberga, located several kilometres outside Trelle-borg, or to Smyge, where they will have a closer look at the project of digesting algae into biogas.

“The algae project has emerged in parallel with the biogas centre and fits well in our municipality, considering that the amount of al-gae is a consequence of eutrophi-cation and cultivated wetland adja-cent to our coasts.”

Campus next?Trelleborg Biogas Centre has had

3,600 visitors since its opening in 2012. Now the project is coming to an end and the plans are to con-tinue along this path by including, amongst other things, the develop-ment of the activities aimed at chil-dren and young people as well as

training for teachers on the subject of sustainable energy.

What are your future goals? “My vision is to have close con-

tact with colleges, preferably sev-eral, that can collaborate with us here”, says Anita Ljung. “Maybe we can build a campus. But that is some way into the future.”

The car park outside the Biogas Centre is soon filled, and inside the building it’s beginning to get crowded. Matilda Gradin, who is dealing with sustainable develop-ment at Samhällsbyggarföreningen in Smyge is about to begin lectur-ing on algae and the motley au-dience of interested people have found their seats. All this, on an ordinary weekday evening at the Biogas Centre of Excellence in Trel-leborg.

Anitha Ljung talking with Torgil Johansson at the Biogas Centre in Trelleborg.

started with recycling where

I live, but I hope it becomes

a reality soon, for the sake of

the environment.”

Rune Larsson, former customs inspector, now retired, Smyge;

“This evening, I came here

mainly to get more informa-

tion about the algae, which

are a big problem for us in

Smygehamn, and for the

entire south coast actually. It

will be interesting to get infor-

mation on how you can utilise

these algae. When it comes

to biogas, I have no personal

experience, I have not yet

bought any biogas car but I

certainly believe in biogas for

the future. I have also been on

field trips to the large biogas

plant in Jordberga.”

Klara Spangenberg, Vice Chairman of the Techni-cal Committee, Trelle-borg;

“I work as a consultant but

I’m also Vice Chairman of

the Technical Committee of

Trelleborg. I got an invitation

to come here tonight and

since biogas and renewable

energy are important for us

in the municipality, but also

for me personally, I’m glad

to be here and interested in

hearing the lecture about

the algae and to learn more.

When it comes to biogas,

I really believe in it and I’m

actually considering buying

a biogas car. I haven’t started

looking yet, but I will.”

... It takes between two and four minutes to refuel a normal car with gas. The range today if you want to run only on gas varies between 200 and 450 km on one tank-full, depending on the model of the car.

... there are now 1.8 million natural gas vehicles in Europe. 95,000 of them are in Germany and more than 50,000 in Sweden.

gas-fuelled cars runs today in Italy today. That makes Italy the country with the most gas cars in Europe.785,000

➜ Did you know that… ➜ Did you know that…

Illustration: istockphoto

Förslag till grafisk profil för BIOGASSYS

Rubrik1Rubrik2RUBRIK3

IngressBrödtextBildtext

Utkast 2010-11-15

The aim of this project is to show the great

potential of biogas as an energy source as well

as to demonstrate a sustainable system for the

production and the usage of biogas.

Under the right conditions, biogas is a cost-

effective alternative for both energy production

and energy consumption. Biogas is environ-

mentally friendly and economically efficient

and also provides positive spin-off effects to

other social developments.

During the project we have seen biogas

fuelled tractors, lorries and heat pumps enter-

ing the market. This, together with research

and the establishment of Sweden’s largest

biogas production facility, gives us the op-

portunity to showcase state of the art biogas

applications within the BIOGASSYS project.

The participants in this project are Trelle-

borg Municipality, Skånska Biobränslebolaget,

WSP, Lund University, E.ON, City of Malmö

and Biogas Syd. BIOGASSYS is co-financed

by the EU’s LIFE programme and the project

has been running since 2010 and will continue

during 2015.

LIFE09 ENV/SE/000348

This is BiogassYsDemonstration of a sustainable biogas system

http://www.biogassys.se

Ph

oto:

Ch

rist

iaan

Dir

ksen