Biogas increasingly seen as key pillar of future renewable energy system – media report

The belief that biogas has a central role to play in a future renewables-based power system is gaining ground, as the fuel could help supply electricity during periods of high demand when other renewables are lacking, reported energy and climate newsletter Tagesspiegel Background. Whereas biogas is currently used for constant electricity production (base load), it is set to supply power at times of particularly high electricity demand (peak load) in the future, according to the article.

Biogas can be stored for a long time, for example in caverns, to be used during extended periods of little wind and sunshine - so called "Dunkelflaute" events. Concerns over costs and sustainability aspects as well as possible competition over land for food production so far have put a check on expanding the energy source's role in the power system. At the beginning of 2025, however, the German government changed subsidy conditions for biogas so that the flexible production of electricity with the fuel in combined heat and power plants is now rewarded when demand is high, signalling a shift in direction.

A project by a municipal utility in the city of Trier is considered a prime example for the use of locally produced biogas, the article says. The utility has built a processing plant that connects seven existing biogas plants via a 50-kilometer pipeline and converts biogas into biomethane, which can be used instead of natural gas. Regional and carbon-neutral production thus replaces imported fossil gas, leading to a reduction in carbon emissions, the company told Tagesspiegel Background.

Biogas associations called on the government to increase support for biomethane to make better use of its potential. The groups argued that biomethane can be stored in existing natural gas infrastructure, making it cheaper than converting the energy system to hydrogen – another gas that could bridge gaps during times of low wind and sunshine, but would require the extensive conversion of pipelines. The lobby groups also said that biomethane should play a larger role in plans to decarbonise heating.

A report published in December last year by think tank Agora Energiewende already concluded that the sustainable use of biomass was a key building block to help Germany reach climate neutrality by 2045. Biomass covered around six percent of Germany's total electricity generation in the first half of this year. The government has set the target to cover 80 percent of Germany's electricity consumption with renewable sources by 2030.

However, the government simultaneously plans to to have built up to 20 gigawatts of new gas-fired power plants by 2030 that are planned as backup for the electricity system during 'Dunkelflaute' events.