Luis Puchades, vice president of the Spanish Biogas Association, AEBIG, and moderator of the day, assured at the end of the sessions that the joint effort of technologists, scientists and administration will place the renewable gas sector in Spain at the level of other European countries. “I think we’re going to achieve it now.”, he expressed.
The first block of conferences focused on analyzing the implications of new European regulations, such as RED II, and featured presentations from companies like AXPO, ENGIE, NATURGY, and SUMA CAPITAL, all of which are very interested in developing renewable gas projects in Spain. In fact, they are currently purchasing biomethane certificates.
The roadmap for biogas It has positive aspects, although it is somewhat disappointing, especially when compared to hydrogen, says Luis Puchades.“Hydrogen will be very important in the future, but what is certain is that biomethane is the present.”Biomethane will be developed in the form of smaller projects, closely linked to rural development, and this is very important.”.
In the second session of conferences, Xavier Flotats, from the Polytechnic University of Barcelona, reviewed the sector's past performance and the current prospects. There is ample technical capacity to begin building plants and developing a strong industrial sector that will serve as the foundation for continued technological improvement.
Scientists and technologists from the University of Valladolid, FACSA and CETENMA presented advances in upgrading technology, the good results being obtained in biogas production through the combination of thermophilic and mesophilic digestion processes and experiences in obtaining biomethane and hydrogen by biological methods.
The sessions were very well attended both in person and online, reflecting the enormous interest generated by this renewable energy.
“It is a pure and perfect circular economy, but for the moment the legislator has not believed in it,”, according to Luis Puchades, who added that “"It is time for Spain to follow the same path as other countries around us and adopt this technology capable of treating waste, reducing emissions and producing renewable energy.".
The sessions dedicated to renewable gas within the International Bioenergy Congress #CIB21 These sessions were organized by AVEBIOM and AEBIG within the framework of Expobiomasa. Two other open technical sessions were also held: «"Biogas and biomethane in Denmark"», organized by the Embassy of Denmark in Spain, with the collaboration of the Food & Bio Cluster Denmark and the Danish Energy Agency, and the «"Renewable Gas Exhibition Innovation Day"», organized by AVEBIOM and AEBIG.