Inspenet, July 19, 2023.
Although in Colombia the production of biogas and biomethane is still at an early stage, the industry is beginning to carry out various projects to implement them as a source of renewable resources, which allows us to envision a promising future for these energy sources. According to the study ‘Estimate of the biogas conversion potential of biomass in Colombia’ conducted by the National University of Colombia and UPME, as well as data from companies in the sector, the departments with the highest biogas availability are Antioquia, Cundinamarca, Valle del Cauca, Meta, Santander, Casanare, Cesar, Atlántico, Bolívar, Risaralda and Cauca.
In fact, according to this same study, the biogas generation potential from prioritized residual biomasses in these departments corresponds to 10,447 Terajoules/year (9,894,669 MBTU), which is equivalent to 8% of the energy supplied by natural gas in 2012. For the Colombian Natural Gas Association (Naturgas), these data represent a viable and sustainable opportunity for energy production in rural and urban areas, improving the quality of life of Colombians while decarbonizing their value chain.
“Thanks to the potential residual biomass available generated in different production processes in the country, it opens the way to promote the diversification of energy sources through the use of renewable energy such as hydrogen, biogas and biomethane, as strategic allies to materialize the energy transition and carbon neutrality in 2050”, assures Luz Stella Murgas, president of Naturgas.
Among the sectors that promote biogas development, sugarcane stands out, leader in the production of bioenergy in Colombia, thanks to the use of sugarcane bagasse as fuel for its boilers and the production of ethanol, which is mixed with gasoline and later supplied to the transportation sector. To date, four mills have plants to treat their effluents, with an approximate capacity of 7,480 tons/day.
On the other hand, the oil palm industry produces biogas from the anaerobic digestion of wastewater from palm oil extraction plants and is characterized by its high methane content (50% to 60%), which allows it to be redirected to the thermal or electrical generation. Currently, its production reaches 133 million cubic meters/year, for an electrical generation of 60 MW. In the pig sector, this energy source is produced with the help of organic waste (pig manure), through bag-type and Taiwan biodigesters, which process a flow of 1,200 tons of effluents per day, with a production of 600 m3/h of biogas at 63% methane, for a generation of 576,000 KW/month.
Other initiatives have also been found in the agro-industrial sector, whose production chains are related to agriculture, an example of which is the beer and dairy industry, where processes for the use of organic matter have been advanced, where 1,935 m are used.3/day of biogas and develop purification technologies, producing 400 m3 per hour with 60% methane content.
Regarding the production of biomethane, this energy source has established itself as an ideal complement to the natural gas that is making its way in the country. As announced during the Naturgas 2023 Congress, EPM will use the biogas generated in the San Francisco WWTP to improve it at biomethane and inject it into the network for home use, taking advantage of 600,000 m3 of renewable gas, equivalent to serving 10,000 homes, an operation that would begin in August of this year.
Today Colombia has a promising future for these new energy sources, however, its strengthening will require regulation and flexibility of parameters that facilitate its development, which will allow investments to be made and thus define a roadmap to massify its production.
Source: https://naturgas.com.co/
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