Biomethane in Sweden - a load of hot air?

Beatrice Torgnyson Klemme, project leader of Biogas East, sat down to tell us what it’s all about.

“Biogas East is following in the footsteps of sister organisations Biogas West and Biogas South by aiming to encourage municipalities, producers and users of biomethane in Sweden to work closer together to improve the use and availability of biomethane,” she explains.

Better together
Since it was established in 2008, the number of partners involved in Biogas East has grown to 35. Beatrice says that initially many of the partners were interested in biomethane, but were only looking at developing projects in their local areas. So she gathered everyone together and encouraged them to work with each other, rather than separately, which would also make it easier to obtain grants from the government.

She says Biogas East has a target of helping to increase the number of biomethane filling stations in the region to around a hundred by the year 2020. It is already making progress. When the goal was set earlier this year there were 37, there are now 40.

Biogas East offers no financial support, however. It is purely a voluntary network with the aim of spreading information, developing partnerships, raising the profile and connecting organisations. All for the good of biogas.

Catch-22
Like any new market, there is a Catch-22 situation in the sense that people will not buy biomethane-fuelled vehicles if there are not enough filling stations, and vice versa. This is where Beatrice and Biogas East lend a hand.

“We meet with the municipalities and we try to act as the catalyst and inspire them. We advise them on what they need to do in order to get a filling station,” she says.

The government provides a 30 per cent investment subsidy to those who build a filling station.
Biogas East can help businesses and organisations apply for such subsidies by providing advisory services to help get the ball rolling.
With no natural gas reserves, Sweden is hoping to develop its biomethane industry. At the moment, the gas is untaxed in the country, which is a further incentive, says Beatrice.

Dual fuel technology providers wanted
Biogas East’s first conference took place in April of this year. One of its priorities is to facilitate the conversion of the diesel buses of several Swedish public transport authorities (PTAs) to a liquefied biomethane gas (LBG) and dual fuel concept.

The project is already underway. Bus companies Swebus and Gamla Uppsala Buss are looking for providers of dual fuel technology that works with liquefied biomethane. Providing the right technology is found, the pilot project will begin this year and will incorporate eight buses in the city of Uppsala. If the tests are successful, the concept will be rolled out across Sweden and possibly to other countries as well.

Biogas East is managing the project on the organisations’ behalf and was able to advise them on how to convert their ambition into a sustainable reality. It will also help support the project by publicising the results locally and internationally.

Less money, better results
Beatrice says converting to biomethane will save the bus companies money as they will not have to throw out their old vehicles – and of course, it will help them achieve the very tough environmental goals they have been set by the government.

”If you collaborate and get a lot of people working together towards the same goal, then it is a lot easier to overcome obstacles,” Beatrice says.

Related content on MindsinMotion.net

• Biogas East project profile