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By Jacob Doyle

Hungary is a slave to Russian gas and has only no gas of its own. So the thinking goes in acountry that meets the bulk of both electricity and heating needs by relying on gas importsfrom Russia. In reality, Hungary has barely begun to tap the potential of its own gas. Not thefossil-variety gas that comes from the ground, but biogas, which can be derived from animal,human and agricultural waste, as well as from special energy crops. By 2010, some 40 MW

of electricity could be generated directly from biogas, enough to power the equivalent of40,000 households.

The total near-term energy potential for Hungarian biogas is reckoned to be some 300 MW,according to ITD Hungary. Todays capacity is composed of around 12 MW from sewagetreatment and 6 MW from agricultural feedstocks, Attila Kovacs of the Hungarian BiogasAssociation (HBA) told the Energy Source. A biogas electricity plant at Nyrbtor, nearNyregyhza, produces 40% of Hungarys agricultural biogas. Its 2.5 mw output makes it oneof Europes largest capacity individual plants. Just four other smaller agricultural plantscurrently generate electricity from biogas, Kovacs added. This underutilization has spawned awave of projects and captured the attention of foreign biogas companies.

The coming two to three years will see several biogas projects coming to fruition, saidKovacs. So far 39 animal farms have received subsidies to build biogas production facilitiesto co-generate both electricity and heat.

Kovacs explained that EU funding has been drawn to help pay for these new facilities, whichwill cost some EUR 60m to build.

Hungarys farm ministry announced this Spring that a pair of biogas plants in southwestHungary would receive state subsidies of nearly EUR 8m, roughly half of the total investmentrequired.

Biogas produced from just 50% of Hungarys animal waste alone, Kovacs estimated, couldgenerate 40 MW of electricity by 2010. Add sewage, waste from foodstuff production andslaughterhouses and the capacity grows. Throw in non-animal farm waste and custom energycrops and the capacity climbs much further still. Kovacs agrees with German biogastechnology provider Consentis that Hungarys agriculture holds the greatest feedstockpotential for biogas, followed by sewers and landfills.

Consentis, which entered the Hungarian market this year, has high hopes and big plans forbiogas in Hungary. It estimates that less than 10% of domestic potential has been realized,adding that in Hungary 15 million cubic meters of liquid manure from livestock as well as300,000 tons of slaughter waste accumulate annually, which can be utilized in biogas plants.

HBAs Attila Kovacs sees opportunities for investors amidst the underutilization. Biogasproduced from waste costs no more than natural gas to produce, he said, and unlike naturalgas, it benefits from subsidies. A 10 MW plant could be built in Hungary to produce electricityand heat for an investment of EUR 25m to 30m, he estimated. This would put it in theexpensive bracket of 10 MW power plants, but with subsidies pitched in to cover as much ashalf the costs, it begins to look more attractive. Larger investments could cover the cost of achain of facilities, Kovacs added, and could push the technology further, bringing in capacity toproduce bio-methane or the utilization of energy crops. HBA could facilitate the investmentand research the possibilities, he explained, adding that HBA is a non-profit organization whose

mission is to promote biogas in Hungary.