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Biogas in Denmark a potential energy source

with benefits for the environment


1) Facts about and historical background of biogas production in Denmark
For decades, most of the oil/gas/charcoal-dependent countries have been promoting new ways of
producing energy. More recently, this has been intensified, since the energy prices were again subject to
various factors influencing their variability in unforeseen ways. This has as well been the case in Denmark,
and besides the strong focus set on wind-farms, biogas and bioenergy are occupying the center of the
stage. In the particular case of biogas, public interest grew as the Danish government decided in 2009 to set
as a goal that 50% of the manure produced in Denmark should be used to produce green energy by 2020.
This is expected to be reached by implementing further biogas plants on Danish territory.
On this matter, there is agreement among most stakeholders from both the agricultural, energy and
environmental side that biogas production is probably the best way to handle the manure produced by a
very high livestock production. These considerations, along with the more political need of energetic
independence, make the increase in biogas production a widely
discussed issue.
Biogas production already had its heyday in Denmark in the 1970s,
when the first oil crisis increased the energy prices at levels never
seen before. This lead to the construction of a several dozen of
biogas plants within few years in the 1980s, which all were a fiasco,
as the technique did not work well and produced a disappointing
amount of energy (Tafdrup, 2006). Because of this previous
experience, the biogas production technology sometimes evokes
negative memories for Danish agricultural stakeholders, but the
lessons learned of this disaster will certainly be of use today.
Nowadays, biogas is produced in Denmark on both common
(multi-farm) production plants and on plants driven by single
farmers. They are mainly located in the Western parts of Denmark
as shown by figure 1, where the meat and dairy production takes
place.
Figure 1: Location of biogas plants in
The energy provided by biogas could be used in several different Denmark. In red, the common (multiways. In Denmark it is until this year only used for cogeneration farm) plants (22), and in blue, the
(electricity/heating), while other countries chose to also use it for single-farm plants (60). Source:
transport, e.g. Sweden. The first pilot project on biogas for transport
has now started
in Denmark
in small
Presentation
by Henrik
Mller, 2012.
scale, and soon more will be implemented. A recent study from the Danish Energy Agency (2010) showed
that even in spite of the extra cost of upgrading, biogas was one of the alternative transport fuels with the
lowest socio-economic costs, for the short-term horizon (2020). In partnership with Dong Energy, Volvo and

Scania, the Danish Ecological Council (DEC) drives a project experimenting the use of biogas for heavy
transport vehicles, aiming at discovering the barriers and opportunities in the use of biogas in that sector.
Furthermore, if injected in the natural gas grid, biogas could be stored and in this way be used as a flexible
fuel to balance the wind production. In this case, supplementary costs would appear, as biogas would then
need to be upgraded before being injected into the grid, i.e. removed from its carbon dioxide content and
pressurized. Before upgrading, biogas consist mainly of methane and CO2, in varying proportions,
depending on the substrate used for production, though the CO2 content is normally around 35%.
There are ongoing studies seeking to replace biogas upgrading by hydrogenation of the biogas (the
hydrogen being produced by surplus wind, i.e. when electricity prices are low), which would allow to
transform most of the CO2 in the biogas to methane (CH4). This would provide more biogas for energy
utilization as CO2 is not combustible.
Biogas production can contribute to a solution to the manure problem Denmark is facing, and at the same
time improve the energetic independence of the country. Biogas has a triple positive effect (see also table
below):
1) Reduces evaporation of the strong climate gasses methane and laughter gas from manure
2) Provides renewable energy to substitute fossil fuel
3) Makes nitrogen in the manure more accessible for the crops.
Nevertheless, opinions diverge as to how the future of the biogas production should look like. Denmark has
a very high livestock production - relative to the surface of the country. This is a threat to the environment,
because of a potentially high release of nitrogen to fresh water, fjords and coastal waters, and the high
evaporation of ammonia is a threat to vulnerable terrestrial nature areas. Some stakeholders consider that
biogas production is only helping livestock farmers to address their manure problem and make the society
as a whole dependent of the disproportionate high livestock production. Based on this rationale, the biogas
ambitions should not foster the growth of the Danish livestock production or make Denmark dependent
of maintaining livestock farming at this level in the future. The Ecological Council (DEC) also finds that the
Danish livestock production is too high and has earlier developed a scenario for a more sustainable
agriculture in 2020, which includes a 30% reduction of the annual pig production (Danish Ecological Council,
2008). From DECs point of view, the biogas ambitions do not necessarily lead to a dependency on the
present size of the livestock production, as other raw materials or waste products can be used instead of,
or in combination with manure.

2) Why could biogas contribute to solution of the current challenges in Danish agriculture?

Biogas production and use yield many advantages, within very different aspects. The main advantages are
observed in the field of waste management, agricultural management, environmental issues and economic
advantages for the sector implementing it.
They are listed in the table below:
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Energetic advantages

Advantages for agriculture

Positive
aspects
for
the
environment
Production of a renewable Better use of the nitrogen contained in Reduced
nitrogen
leaching
energy
animal manure
(Srensen et al., 2002)
Substitution of fossil fuels
Homogeneous slurry, easily useable for Reduced smell problems
arable farmers
Increased
energetic The slurry is free from weed and disease Less potential for denitrification,
independence
germs (if treated in a thermophilic depending on the site-specific
process, above 60 degrees Celsius, conditions (Thomsen et al., 2010)
disease germs disappear in 6-10 hours)
(landbrugsinfo.dk)
Less GHG emissions (methane
and laughter gas)

Biogas production is a waste management method that extraordinarily combines many agronomic
advantages with genuine environmental advantages. Setting our focus on the environmental advantages, it
is obvious that the reduced nitrogen leaching as well as the reduced smell problems specifically address
issues that have been fought against for years in the meat and dairy production industry in Denmark. The
reduced nitrogen leaching is a result of the microbiologic digestion in the biogas plant - changing organic
nitrogen into inorganic nitrogen, which makes is more easily available to the crops. Therefore the crops
grow better, and loss of nitrogen to the environment in the autumn is reduced. If one considers the
extreme nitrate pollution that our water bodies - especially the fjords, the inner waters and the Baltic Sea are suffering from, it becomes obvious that a technology that reduces nitrogen leaching is a suitable
solution to handle the manure. The economic advantages are directly linked to the relative abundance of
potential energy sources: all organic waste, included manure, can be used as an input, and often for a quite
low price.

Figure 2: When manure is treated in a biogas plant,


the odor emissions of slurry spread on the field are
reduced. Source: Presentation of Irene Nicolajsen,
Danish Agricultural Council, 2008.

The reduced odor emissions of slurry originating from biogas plants directly address the reputation some
parts of Jutland now have, where pork is produced in large-scale farms. In reducing the odor nuisance
resulting from the activities of the farms located in these agricultural zones, biogas could be part of the
solution to get these zones out of their outcast status, and make them more pleasant for non-agricultural
parts of society.
Figure 2 shows graphically the smell-reduction possibilities that biogas production brings when the manure
is spread out on the field. After a few minutes, the smell from stored degassed manure is not reaching as
far as in the case of raw manure, and the smell is quite limited around the treatment site after 12 hours.
This is primarily due to the thinness of the slurry, which permits a faster dispersion into the soil.
Furthermore, biogas as an energy source has a high greenhouse gas reduction potential, in two ways:
-

Reduction of the loss of methane and nitrous oxide while the manure is stored and spread
(Sommer et al., 2001).
Substitution of fossil fuels using biogas for heating or power production, or both combined
(cogeneration), or as a transport fuel.

Figure 3: The GHG reductions that biogas production


yields. Source: Presentation of Irene Nicolajsen,
Danish Agricultural Council, 2008.

The reduction of emissions of GHG when using biogas has been assessed to range from 63% to 99% when
compared to the use of coal for electricity generation, and to range from 38% to 99% when compared to
the use of natural gas for electricity generation (OECD, 2010). When accounting for the additional benefit
of reduced methane and laughing gas emissions, it is likely that the overall GHG reduction is in the high end
of the above-mentioned intervals.
Figure 3 shows, in terms of CO2 equivalent, the possible reduction of greenhouse gases production for
biogas production based on manure, compared to a business-as-usual management, where manure is
directly applied to the field without any pre-treatment.

On top of these important advantages, several other advantages have been listed in the table above,
ranging from pure agronomic advantages to environmental improvements in energy production. The
agricultural sector gains through this treatment option slurry that is more homogeneous, making it more
suitable for real market transactions for both producers and users of slurry. It also makes the nitrogen
contained in the slurry more adapted to agricultural use (the degradation of the organic material releases
nitrogen in its mineral form, making it more suitable for vegetal production). Not to forget, biogas
treatment can also sterilize the material, either with a hygiene and sanitation unit, or within the
thermophilic digestion of raw manure, if temperature is above 60 degrees Celsius (landbrugsinfo.dk).
Social advantages of the treatment option are not to be underestimated, as it fits with the Danish goals of
energy production through renewable means, which aims to use 50% of the raw manure for biogas
production (as stated in the Government Green Growth program of 2009), while bringing more energetic
independence of oil, natural gas, or coal to countries investing in these options.
3) Challenges and opportunities within large-scale biogas production in Denmark: how can biogas be
implemented without being bound to an excessive manure production?
a. Potential energy retrieved from biogas production
The energetic potential of raw manure produced in Denmark has been estimated to be around 26 PJ
(Energistyrelsen, 2010), and more recently to a potential energy production of 24 PJ per year, as more and
more of the piglets produced in Denmark are now exported (Mller, 2011).
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Energy potential in PJ/year

9
8
7
6
5
4

Released into the field

Released in the stable

2
1
0

Figure 4: Updated energy potential of raw manure of different origins.


Source: Mller, 2011.

The potential energy production through biogas production raw manure is distributed as shown in figure 4.
Nearly half of the energy production potential is coming from cow manure, though part of it is released
directly onto the field (in red), making it inaccessible for biogas production. Another half of the potential
comes from pig production, and the rest comes from mink, horses and chicken production.
Figure 5 shows the potential energy production of different inputs for biogas production. Not only raw
manure, but some other sources of energy can and should be considered for biogas production, as organic
waste produced by households and industries, sewage sludge or grass from permanent pastures. Most of
the energy sources are heavily under-utilized and hold thereby a large potential, though the precise
potential is not really known, as they come from estimations based on the production results of facilities
mixing manure and waste/bi-products from different origins. The total energy potential of biogas is of
about 40 PJ (Biogasbranchen 2009), without considering energy crops as a source.

Potential energy production through biogas


(in PJ/year)
Potential

Used potential
27

24

4
0,6
Raw manure

0,9

2,5

Sewage sludge Industrial garbage

2,5

5
0,01

Household
garbage

0,001
Energy crops
(10% of arable
land)

0
Permanent
pasture

Figure 5: Energy potential in biogas production with several inputs. Source: Mller (2012) and Tafdrup (2006).

For an optimal energy production, the material put into the biogas plant should contain enough carbon.
Further, the mixture must have a C/N ratio that is not beyond 30 (N is then a limiting factor for bacterial
growth) or below 10 (to avoid ammonia inhibition) (Alvarez et al., 2010). Therefore, raw manure and
sewage sludge need either blending with drier materials, such as organic household waste, crops, or grass
from pastures or drying before entering the biogas plant (Jrgensen et al. 2008).
In this paper, we will focus on two different scenarios for the future of biogas in Denmark. Primarily, we will
analyze the governments objectives and their feasibility, through a study undertaken by the Danish Energy
Agency. In the second scenario, we will develop another option for the future of biogas production, where
the pig production would be reduced by 30% in Denmark. This follows a scenario, developed in 2008 by the
DEC, where Danish pig production is reduced by 30%, in order to reduce the pollution and protect the
nature. The DEC illustrated thereby that the current large scale pig production is unnecessary for

maintaining a good financial health of the agricultural sector (The Ecological Council, 2008). This second
scenario illustrates the feasibility of a large scale biogas production matching the energy goal of the Danish
government and at the same time reducing pollution.
b. Green growth: the governments goal for biogas production in Denmark
In 2009, the government published a political agreement on Green growth of the Danish economy and
how it should be achieved. This agreement sets a goal that 50% of the raw manure produced by agriculture
should be used as input to produce biogas.
The Danish Energy Agency produced a study on the practical implementation of that objective
(Energistyrelsen, 2010), which shows that the use of 50% of manure for biogas production would lead to an
energy production of around 24 PJ/year1. As mentioned above, when raw manure is used to produce
biogas, the material has to be mixed with drier addings, as raw manure especially pigs manure - has a low
dry matter content and a low easily degradable carbon content, which need to be enhanced for an optimal
biogas production. Therefore, this figure was calculated by considering half of the potential energy
production due to solely raw manure in Denmark, added to the potential energy production of added
energy crops in a 1:1 combination, where it was supposed that manure had to be completed with energy
crops representing the same energy potential2. Following their estimations, the growing of the energy
crops needed for implementing this production would use less than 3% of the Danish agricultural area.
Although this sounds like a relatively low burden to implement biogas production with raw manure, the use
of energy crops for biogas is disputed. In the DEC, it is claimed that the increase of the dry matter content
should as much as possible be supplied through the use of organic waste, and by using grass from pastures
and non-food crops necessary in crop rotation for instance in organic agriculture, like clover. If it is
necessary to use energy crops, it should be crops with a high yield per hectare and low input of fertilizer or
pesticides. This could be willow or Miscanthus, though these crops would require pre-treatments given
their high lignin content (lignin is resistant to microbial degradation) (Uellendahl et al., 2008)., but not for
instance maize the strong impact this kind of culture on land use and biodiversity has been proven in
Germany (Mertz, 2007), where maize culture is subsidized. Developing biogas production without energy
crops is also a political issue in Denmark: in June 2012, the Danish Parliament decided that the minister of
climate and energy can set up conditions for subsidies to biogas plants, excluding specific crops and the
aim is exactly to exclude maize (Ingeniren, 2012)
A number of other possible co-substrates to raw manure that could enhance its dry matter content have
not been considered enough yet. For instance, there is only little research on the energy potential of catch
crops. Only few studies exist on that question, but they indicate that:
-

Using catch crops for biogas production would not impoverish the arable land
The better the crop is for animal feeding, the better its biogas potential will be (landbrugsinfo.dk).

The actual energy potential of catch crops is not known, and, considering current energy prices, their
culture is not profitable (landbrugsavisen.dk). Further research might nevertheless highlight the
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Considering the updated numbers from Mller (2011), the potential is most likely slightly below 24PJ/year.
It is not clear yet whether this combination is optimal, and the potential energy outcome of the governmental goals
is subject to change as further research casts new light on the issue.
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opportunities hidden within the culture of catch crops for biogas production, instead of using energy crops
to supplement raw manure in biogas production.
Evidently, grass from permanent pasture or straw could be added to raw manure to enhance its dry matter
content. However, if the combination is to be 1:1 with raw manure, there might not be enough material to
be the only supplement - with the drastically increased use of raw manure.
Instead of using co-substrates to enhance the substrates dry matter content, raw manure could also be
concentrated by solid-liquid separation, where the solid fraction could be used together with raw manure
without any further addings. In that case, the potential energy outcome of the policy would be much lower
(around 12 PJ) than in the Danish Energy Agencys calculations. On the other hand, this would be an evident
solution for reaching the target of using 50% of the produced manure for biogas. However, the
supplementary costs of adding a treatment facility might be higher than the total cost of the Agencys
scenario. The final conclusion on which possibility is the best one, and how high the potential energy
outcome really is, depends on several factors such as gas prices, alternative energy prices and land
disponibility, as well as more political discussions. All in all, the potential energy produced as biogas in
plants with mainly manure should be between 12 and 24 PJ, depending on whether the choice is to mix
manure with another energy source having the same energy potential, or if the manure is dried before
entering the biogas production plant. Overall, the total energy potential of biogas production in Denmark
excluding energy crops adds up to around 40 PJ (manure plus other sources, as illustrated in figure 5).
c. Reducing pig production and developing biogas production can be done jointly
In the Danish Ecological Councils publication on a sustainable agriculture in 2020 (Danish Ecological
Council, 2008), a scenario of reduction of the pig production in Denmark is drawn. This reduction of 30%
would together with a number of other measures achieve a number of goals, like reduction of ammonia
evaporation by 50%, nitrogen release to the aquatic environment by 40%, green house gasses from
agricultural by 30%, and re-establishing one third of the Danish area as nature.
As reported by Statistics Denmark, the current number of heads in the pig production is of around 12
million3, while there are 1.6 million bovine animals in Denmark in 2012. Reducing the pig production of 30%
results therefore in a production that would amount to 8.4 million animals. Given the fact that the energy
potential of total manure use in biogas production in Denmark is around 24 PJ (Mller, 2011), and
considering the repartition of the energy potential of manure from different sources (see figure 4), the
energy potential of a total use of manure with a reduced porcine production would be around 20.4 PJ,
depending on the exact structure of the production and its reduction.
Of course, the potential energy coming from manure based biogas would be reduced in this case, but the
reduction would be bearable, compared to the other improvements of the quality of the Danish
environment described above that would be achieved.
Second, and as shown by figure 5, there are other sources of potential energy that are currently underutilized. The lost 3.5 PJ of energy potential from manure could be retrieved from a more efficient use of

Though around 25 million pigs are slaughtered each year, as they only live around half a year or are exported.

organic household and industrial waste than simple burning for electricity generation, or sewage sludge, or
a combination of those three.
Third and last, new research shows that the potential energy withheld in waste might be higher than
previously thought. Dong Energy and partners (universities, Amagerforbrnding (a large waste treatment
industry), Novozymes, and Haldor Topse) have launched a new concept called REnescience. This
technology uses enzymes to degrade organic material in waste to make slurry that could be reused for
energy production purposes like biogas. The waste is pre-heated above 80 degrees Celsius, making it germ
and seed free, and thereby compatible for different uses, as energy production, on-field spreading etc.
(REnescience, 2012). Furthermore, the technology enables the degradation of organic material that could
not be recycled before, such as textiles, nappies, and other polluted paper products, increasing thereby by
almost 100% the amount of organic material available for further uses. The energy potential withheld in
waste could be of 5 PJ, if the concept is proven to be economically viable and stands up to expectations. It
is running as a full scale demonstration plant at Amagerforbnding in Copenhagen, and seems to be close
to marketing. This shows that other options could compensate for a reduction of the pig production in
Denmark, so that it would not necessarily reduce the growth of the biogas production industry.
From the DECs point of view, we can follow a goal of producing approx. 40 PJ of energy from biogas
without binding ourselves to the present number of livestock animals in Danish agriculture, as several other
inputs are available for biogas production, and most of them are underexploited at the time being.
Furthermore, the development of the biogas production industry will not happen from one day to another,
so that the sector will have plenty of time to adjust its growth to the potentials available, considering of
course transportation and other costs.
The DEC therefore supports the goal of ten-doubling the biogas production, as it is a renewable energy
source that could perfectly supplement wind energy in the renewable energy portfolio, but at the same
time proposes a reduction of the pig production industry in light of the environmental damage it provokes.
Considering the fact that Denmark has a high animal production with regards to the size of the country and
the national consumption, it would be wasting valuable resource if there was no use of manure and waste.
Denmark, being one of the world most intensively farmed countries, has a strong position in the field of
biogas production compared to other European countries, and should therefore stand in the front line of
innovation with regards to recycling of waste resources.
This means that the biogas potential in most other countries will be relatively lower than in Denmark,
compared to the number of inhabitants. Only some countries and regions have as many livestock animals
as Denmark per surface unit, and could therefore have a biogas potential as high or almost as high as in
Denmark for instance Netherlands and Bretagne in Northern France.

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