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• Renewable Energy
• Wind Energy
• Biomass
  • Biomass sources
  • Solid biomass
  • Liquid biofuels
  • Biogas
  • How it works
  • Carbon cycle
• Geothermal
• Hydroelectric
• Solar
• Wave & Tidal
• Climate Change
• Government Targets

Biogas

Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide resulting from the anaerobic decomposition of domestic, industrial and agricultural waste products.

Biogas can be captured and used as an energy source.

There are two common types of biogas:

• Sewage waste - Sewage waste can be treated to generate solid, liquid and gas products, using anaerobic digestors. The liquid and gas can be siphoned off either to be burnt directly for energy generation or refined into other products. The solid residue can be used as fertiliser.

 For more information on the anaerobic digestion, please see the anaerobic digestion section.

• Landfill gas - As the waste buried in landfill sites undergoes anaerobic digestion it generates gases. These gases are known collectively as landfill gas (LFG) and can be harvested to be used in the generation of energy.

For more information on landfill gas, please see the landfill gas section.

Further information

The Biogas Barometer 2008 produced by the EurObserv'ER project gives details of biogas production in EU Member States.