EnviTec Bio-LNG Plant in Germany Completed

EnviTec Biogas AG’s bio-liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in northeastern Germany has reached the test phase and is set to start operation this summer, the company said.

EnviTec called the facility, named BioEnergie Park Guestrow, “Germany's largest integrated bio-LNG plant with bio-CO2 [carbon dioxide] liquefaction”.

It can produce up to 25,000 kilograms of bio-LNG daily for use by heavy-duty motor vehicles. “This will provide green fuel for more than 50,000,000 lorry kilometers (31,068,550 miles) per year”, the Lohne town-based company said.

Production at the facility follows a circular economy model, Frank Hinken, managing director of EnviTec Bioenergie Guestrow GmbH, said in a statement.

“The raw biogas produced at BioEnergie Park Guestrow is upgraded to natural gas quality with the help of the innovative EnviThan gas upgrading process”, EnviTec explained. “The CO2-enriched permeate (exhaust air) from the gas treatment process contains an extremely small amount of methane and is transferred to the CO2 liquefaction plant (LCO2 plant) for further treatment. It is used for the production of liquid carbon dioxide.”

The bio-CO2 can be used in food and beverage production, as well as in greenhouses, Hinken said.

“The off-gas created during the liquefaction of CO2, which contains other non-condensable gases such as nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen as well as methane, is fed to the combined heat and power plants at the site, where it is used to generate energy for self-supply”, EnviTec said.

“The liquid carbon dioxide, 15,000 metric tons per year generated at food quality, substitutes fossil-based carbon dioxide, significantly improving the CO2 footprint of the plant”, it added.

Germany and the European Union have committed to cut CO2 emissions per kilometer (0.62 miles) from large lorries by 30 percent by 2030 relative to 2019-20 levels, according to the EU climate pledge deposited before the United Nations December 18, 2020.

The EU is financially backing a Shell PLC-led industry network to produce bio-LNG. “BioLNG EuroNet will help with decarbonizing heavy duty road transport across Europe by developing a European Network for LNG covering the key Commercial Road Transport routes from southern Spain to eastern Poland and will use this network to demonstrate the commercial scale deployment of BioLNG produced from waste and residues”, the initiative’s website says.

Shell says it produces bio-LNG that is 100 percent sourced from sustainable biomass sources and feedstock. It piloted the rollout of this product in Germany in 2021. “Three months into the pilot the results have shown Shell BioLNG can reduce CO2 emissions above the EU target of at least a 55 percent reduction by 2030”, the British global energy giant says on its website.

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