Biogas: typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter

in the absence of oxygen. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of biofuel.
One type of biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of biodegradable
materials such as biomass, manure, sewage, municipal waste, green waste and energy crops.
[1]

This type of biogas comprises primarily methane and carbon dioxide. The other principal type of
biogas is wood gas which is created by gasification of wood or other biomass. This type of
biogas is comprised primarily of nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide, with trace amounts
of methane.
The gases methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen.
Air contains 21 percent oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel. Biogas
can be used as a low-cost fuel in any country for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can
also be used in modern waste management facilities where it can be used to run any type of heat
engine, to generate either mechanical or electrical power. Biogas can be compressed, much like
natural gas, and used to power motor vehicles and in the UK for example is estimated to have the
potential to replace around 17 percent of vehicle fuel.
[2]
Biogas is a renewable fuel, so it qualifies
for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world.
History
Ancient Persians observed that rotting vegetables produce flammable gas. In 1859 Indians build
the first sewage plant in Bombay. This idea for the manufacturing of gas was then brought to the
UK in 1895. The resulting biogas was being used for gas lighting in street lamps. Marco Polo has
mentioned the use of covered sewage tanks for in China. This is believed to go back to 2,000-
3,000 years ago in ancient China.
[citation needed]

Production
Main article: anaerobic digestion
Biogas is practically produced as landfill gas (LFG) or digester gas.
A biogas plant is the name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm wastes or energy
crops.
Biogas can be produced utilizing anaerobic digesters. These plants can be fed with energy crops
such as maize silage or biodegradable wastes including sewage sludge and food waste. During
the process, an air-tight tank transforms biomass waste into methane producing renewable
energy that can be used for heating, electricity, and many other operations that use any variation
of an internal combustion engine.
[3]
There are two key processes: Mesophilic and Thermophilic
digestion.
[4]

Landfill gas is produced by wet organic waste decomposing under anaerobic conditions in a
landfill.
[5][6]
The waste is covered and mechanically compressed by the weight of the material
that is deposited from above. This material prevents oxygen exposure thus allowing anaerobic
microbes thrive. This gas builds up and is slowly released into the atmosphere if the landfill site
has not been engineered to capture the gas. Landfill gas is hazardous for three key reasons.
Landfill gas becomes explosive when it escapes from the landfill and mixes with oxygen. The
lower explosive limit is 5 percent methane and the upper explosive limit is 15 percent methane.
[7]

The methane contained within biogas is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon
dioxide. Therefore uncontained landfill gas which escapes into the atmosphere may significantly
contribute to the effects of global warming. In addition landfill gas' impact in global warming,
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contained within landfill gas contribute to the formation of
photochemical smog.
Sweden produces biogas from confiscated alcoholic beverages.
[
Composition

The composition of biogas varies depending upon the origin of the anaerobic digestion process.
Landfill gas typically has methane concentrations around 50%. Advanced waste treatment
technologies can produce biogas with 55-75%CH
4

[10]
or higher using in situ purification
techniques
[11]
As-produced, biogas also contains water vapor, with the fractional water vapor
Typical composition of biogas
[9]

Compound Chem %
Methane CH
4
50-75
Carbon dioxide CO
2
25-50
Nitrogen N
2
0-10
Hydrogen H
2
0-1
Hydrogen sulfide H
2
S 0-3
Oxygen O
2
0-2
volume a function of biogas temperature; correction of measured volume for water vapor content
and thermal expansion is easily done via algorithm.
[12]

Main article: Siloxanes
In some cases biogas contains siloxanes. These siloxanes are formed from the anaerobic
decomposition of materials commonly found in soaps and detergents. During combustion of
biogas containing siloxanes, silicon is released and can combine with free oxygen or various
other elements in the combustion gas. Deposits are formed containing mostly silica (SiO
2
) or
silicates (Si
x
O
y
) and can also contain calcium, sulfur, zinc, phosphorus. Such white mineral
deposits accumulate to a surface thickness of several millimeters and must be removed by
chemical or mechanical means.
Practical and cost-effective technologies to remove siloxanes and other biogas contaminants are
currently available.
[13]

Applications
Biogas can be utilized for electricity production on sewage works,
[14]
in a CHP gas engine, where
the waste heat from the engine is conveniently used for heating the digester; cooking; space
heating; water heating; and process heating. If compressed, it can replace compressed natural gas
for use in vehicles, where it can fuel an internal combustion engine or fuel cells and is a much
more effective displacer of carbon dioxide than the normal use in on-site CHP plants.
[15]

Methane within biogas can be concentrated via a biogas upgrader to the same standards as fossil
natural gas, and becomes biomethane. If the local gas network allows for this, the producer of
the biogas may utilize the local gas distribution networks. Gas must be very clean to reach
pipeline quality, and must be of the correct composition for the local distribution network to
accept. Carbon dioxide, water, hydrogen sulfide and particulates must be removed if present. If
concentrated and compressed it can also be used in vehicle transportation. Compressed biogas is
becoming widely used in Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany. A biogas-powered train has been
in service in Sweden since 2005.
[16][17]

Biogas has also powered automobiles. In 1974, a British documentary film entitled Sweet as a
Nut detailed the biogas production process from pig manure, and how the biogas fueled a
custom-adapted combustion engine.
[18][19]

Scope and potential quantities
In the UK, sewage gas electricity production is tiny compared to overall power consumption - a
mere 80 MW of generation, compared to 70 GW on the grid. Estimates vary but could be a
considerable fraction from digestion of
[20]
.
In addition to the U.K., methane biogas derived from cow manure is also being tested in the U.S.
According to a 2008 study, collected by the Science and Children magazine, methane biogas
from cow manure, also known as cow power, would be sufficient to produce 100 billion kilowatt
hours enough to power millions of homes across America. Furthermore, methane biogas has
been tested to prove that it can reduce 99 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions or
about four percent of the greenhouse gases produced by the United States.
[

In developing nations
Domestic biogas plants convert manure from livestock and night soil into biogas and slurry, the
fermented manure. This technology is feasible for small holders with livestock producing 50 Kg
manure per day, an equivalent of about 6 pigs or 3 cows, and living in a (sub) tropical climate.
That makes that especially in developing countries this technology is popular among small
farmers. Depending on size and location, a typical brick made fixed dome biogas plant can be
installed at the yard of a rural household with the investment between 300 to 500 US $ in Asian
countries and up to 1400 US $ in the African context. A high quality biogas plant needs
minimum maintenance costs and can produce gas for at least 15-20 years without major
problems and re-investments. For the user, biogas provides clean cooking energy, contributes to
health improvement and reduces the time needed for biomass collection, especially for women.
The slurry is a potent fertilizer and increases yield of crops.
Domestic biogas is extensively developed in Asian countries,
[22]
like for instance India,
China,
[23]
.
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation ,
[24]
is active to support national biogas sectors in
countries like Nepal, Biogas Partnership Nepal VietnamBiogas Programme Vietnam,
Bangladesh, CambodiaNational Biogas Programme Cambodia, Laos, Pakistan and Indonesie.
And in Africa one major programme Biogas for Better Life [6]is taking place in in Rwanda,
[25]
,
Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya, Benin, Burkina Faso and Cameroon.
In Latin America domestic biogas is developed like in Costa Rica
[26]
and Colombia.
[27]


Deenabandhu Model (India)
In India biogas produced from the anaerobic digestion of manure in small-scale digestion
facilities is called gober gas; it is estimated that such facilities exist in over 2 million households.
The digester is an airtight circular pit made of concrete with a pipe connection. The manure is
directed to the pit, usually directly from the cattle shed. The pit is then filled with a required
quantity of wastewater. The gas pipe is connected to the kitchen fire place through control
valves. The combustion of this biogas has very little odour or smoke. Owing to simplicity in
implementation and use of cheap raw materials in villages, it is one of the most environmentally
sound energy sources for rural needs. Some designs use vermiculture to further enhance the
slurry produced by the biogas plant for use as compost.
[28]

The Deenabandhu Model is a new biogas-production model popular in India. (Deenabandhu
means "helpful for the poor.") The unit usually has a capacity of 2 to 3 cubic metres. It is
constructed using bricks or by a ferrocement mixture. The brick model costs approximately
18,000 rupees and the ferrocment model 14,000 rupees, however India's Ministry of Non-
conventional Energy Sources offers a subsidy of up to 3,500 rupees per model constructed.
[citation
needed]

ARTI biogas plant

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The Appropriate Rural Technology Institute developed a compact biogas plant which uses food
waste, rather than dung or manure, to create biogas. The plant is sufficiently compact to be used
by urban households, and about 2,000 are currently in use both in urban and rural households
in Maharashtra, India. Few ARTI biogas plants have been installed in other parts of India or the
world. The design and development of the ARTI biogas plant won the 2006 Ashden Award for
Sustainable Energy 2006 in the Food Security category.
[29]

Legislation
The European Union presently has some of the strictest legislation regarding waste management
and landfill sites called the Landfill Directive.
[citation needed]
The United States legislates against
landfill gas as it contains these VOCs. The United States Clean Air Act and Title 40 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) requires landfill owners to estimate the quantity of non-methane
organic compounds (NMOCs) emitted. If the estimated NMOC emissions exceeds 50 tonnes per
year the landfill owner is required to collect the landfill gas and treat it to remove the entrained
NMOCs. Treatment of the landfill gas is usually by combustion. Because of the remoteness of
landfill sites it is sometimes not economically feasible to produce electricity from the gas.
Gober gas

The airtight circular cylinder of a gober gas plant, which moves up and down depending upon the
collection of gas
Gober gas (also spelled gobar gas, from the Hindi word gober for cow dung) is biogas
generated from cow dung. A gober gas plant is an airtight circular pit made of concrete with a
pipe connection. First, manure is dumped in the pit. Then, water or wastewater is added to the
manure and the concoction is sealed in the airtight concrete pit with a gas pipe leading to stove
unit in the kitchen serving as the only egress for gas. When the control valve on the gas pipe is
opened the biogas is combusted for cooking in a largely odourless and smokeless manner. After
the anaerobic microbial process has been exhausted, the residue left in the concrete pit is often
used as fertiliser. Owing to the process's simplicity in implementation and use of cheap raw
materials, it is often regarded as one of the most environmentally sound energy sources for rural
needs.
[30][31][32]

In India, gober gas is generated using countless household micro plants (an estimated more than
2 million). The concept is also rapidly growing in Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan
subsidises the construction of movable gas chamber biogas plants by up to 50 percent.
[citation
needed]

Biogas gas-grid injection
Gas-grid injection is the injection of biogas into the methane grid (natural gas grid). Injections
includes biogas:
[33]
until the breakthrough of micro combined heat and power two-thirds of all
the energy produced by biogas power plants was lost (the heat), using the grid to transport the
gas to customers, the electricity and the heat can be used for on-site generation
[34]
resulting in a
reduction of losses in the transportation of energy as typical energy losses in natural gas
transmission systems range from 1-2% the current energy losses on a large electrical system
range from 5-8%
[35]
.