Bioenergy Europe, in collaboration with the European Biogas Association, recently released its 2019 report on biogas, which shows biogas production in Europe has grown exponentially since 1990.

According to the report, the European Union’s 17,783 biogas plants produced 16.826 Ktoe in 2017, an increase of 25 times the level of energy production in 1990.

Approximately 70 percent of the feedstocks for biogas production in the EU currently come from the agriculture sector, including manure, energy crops and agricultural residues. Approximately 16 percent of biogas production comes from sewage treatment, with 8 percent from landfill gas. The remaining 5 percent of biogas was produced from other or unknown feedstocks.

Approximately 78.5 percent of the biogas produced in the EU went to heat and power generation, with 8.5 percent going to commercial and public services. The remaining biogas was used in transport, households, industry, and other applications.

Since 2011, the number of EU biogas plants that produced upgraded biomethane or renewable natural gas (RNG) has tripled. As of 2017, the report indicates the EU had approximately 540 of these RNG facilities, up from 187 in 2011.

The overall number of biogas plants in the EU grew from 6,277 in 2009 to 17,783 in 2017. As of 2017, Germany had approximately 10,971 biogas plants in place, followed by Italy at 1,655 plants and France at 782 plants.