Benefits of Biogas

Biogas Provides Multiple Value-Added Benefits to Society as a Whole

Agricultural

Anaerobic digestion of livestock manure and organic food residuals provides security to the agricultural/ food sector. Several benefits include:
–  financial diversification and risk mitigation through energy sales
–  implementing strong nutrient management practices
–  supporting local processing of agricultural production
–  reducing commercial fertilizer requirements and costs

Economic

The green economy benefits of biogas are considerable and include:
–  local job creation in technical, manufacturing and construction/trades
–  economic development generating billions of dollars of investment in rural communities
–  creation of useful by-products from wastes, acting as a significant economic multiplier

Energy

As a source of renewable energy, biogas has unique characteristics and offers many energy end uses. Biogas can
–  generate reliable, flexible power 24/7
–  manage intermittent renewable power supply through means of storage and flexible power
–  improve/support local infrastructure and power quality
–  upgrade to renewable natural gas (RNG) for injection into the natural gas grid, delivering ‘green’ renewable energy through existing infrastructure
–  be compressed for use as transportation fuel, or direct replacement of fossil-sourced natural gas in household heating, or industrial, commercial and institutional processes

Environmental

The environmental benefits of biogas are numerous.
–  capture and use of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times worse than CO₂
–  convert high energy waste streams into fuel, diverting them from landfill
–  control weed seed germination, reducing herbicide use
–  remove odour-causing compounds

As taken from the Biogas Association website.