Advantages of Biogas

1. Renewable Source of Energy: To begin with, biogas is

considered to be a renewable source of energy. Since it often
produced from materials that form sewage and waste products,
the only time it will be depleted is when we stop producing any
waste.

2. Non-Polluting: It is also considered to be non-polluting in

nature. The production of biogas does not require oxygen, which
means that resources are conserved by not using any further fuel.

3. Reduces Landfills: It also uses up waste material found in

landfills, dump sites and even farms across the country, allowing
for decreased soil and water pollution.

4. Cheaper Technology: Applications for biogas are increasing

as the technology to utilize it gets better. It can be used to
produce electricity and for the purpose of heating as well.
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is biogas that has been
compressed and can be used as a fuel for vehicles. Production
can be carried out through many small plants or one large plant.

5. Large number of Jobs: Either way, work opportunities are

created for thousands of people in these plants. These jobs are a
blessing in rural areas, which are the targeted grounds for the use
of biogas. In fact, biogas can easily be decentralized, making it
easier to access by those living in remote areas or facing frequent
power outages.

6. Little Capital Investment: Biogas are easy to set up and

require little capital investment on a small scale basis. In fact,
many farms can become self sufficient by utilizing biogas plants
and the waste material produced by their livestock each day. A
single cow can provide enough waste material within a day to
power a light bulb the entire day.

7. Reduces Greenhouse Effect: It also reduces the greenhouse

effect by utilizing the gases being produced in landfills as forms of
energy. This is a major reason why the use of biogas has started
catching on. It recycles most forms of biodegradable waste and
works on simple forms of technology.

Biogas is a type of gas that is formed by the biological breakdown of organic

matter in an oxygen deficient environment. It is counted as an ecofriendly biofuel.
Biogas contains 60% methane and carbon dioxide. It can be employed for
generating electricity and also as automotive fuel. Biogas can be used as a
substitute for compressed natural gas (CNG).

The advantages of biogas are manifold. Biogas by itself can positively affect the
economy of rural areas. The principal benefits of biogas include:

Conversion of natural organic waste into fertilizer: The conversion is carried out in a
machine called the polythene bio gas digester. Cow dung slurry is put into the machine. The
product is organic fertilizer of high quality. The fertilizer obtained is rich in nitrogen. It has been
analyzed, that, fertilizer made by the polythene bio gas digester contains nitrogen content 3 times
more than the product made by conventional processes. It is completely natural and free from
harmful synthetic chemicals.
 Eco friendly energy production: The calorific value of biogas is equal to that of half liter of
diesel oil (6 kWh/m3). Methane is a key component of the gas. Biogas is fully capable of
replacing other rural energy sources like wood, hard coal, kerosene, plant residues, and propane.
Hard coal possesses a calorific value of 8.5kWh/kg per 0.7 kilograms. Larger biogas plants
generate and feed electricity into mainstream power grids. Smaller biogas production units can
support lighting and cooking requirements

Considerable workload reduction in rural areas: This is particularly true for rural women
engaged in day to day household work. Installing a biogas unit will relieve her of the tiring and
tedious job of collecting and ferrying firewood. Since, biogas burns cleanly, the rural homes will
not suffer from smoke and consequently rural denizens will suffer less from physical problems
like bronchial complications. Cooking is also easier with a gas stove and takes less time.

Visible improvement in rural hygiene: Biogas contributes positively to rural health

conditions. Biogas plants lower the incidence of respiratory diseases. Diseases like asthma, lung
problems, and eye infections have considerably decreased in the same area when compared to
the pre-biogas plant times. Biogas plants also kill pathogens like cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and
paratyphoid.

Environmental benefits on a global scale: Biogas plants significantly lower the greenhouse
effects on the earth's atmosphere. The plants lower methane emissions by entrapping the harmful
gas and using it as fuel.

Protects the earth's natural resources: 1 biogas plant is computed to save 32 liters of kerosene
and 4 tons of firewood every year. The organic chemical plant also contributes indirectly to the
protection of soil.

Disadvantages of Biogas

1. Little Technology Advancements: First of all, the current

systems in place used to create biogas are not as efficient as they
get. Little new technology has been introduced for streamlining
the process and making it more cost effective. As a result, large
scale industrial production of biogas is still not on the energy map.
Although it could solve the energy issues being faced by countries
all over the world, very few investors are willing to put in the
startup capital. It is also not the best idea to construct one biogas
plant per house, which means that a central system will have to
be put into place.

2. Contain Impurities: Biogas contains a number of impurities

even after refining processes have been put into place. When
compressed for use as fuel, these can become corrosive to the
metal parts of engines.

3. Not Attractive on Large Scale: The process of using biogas on

a large scale is not economically viable and it is very difficult to
enhance the efficiency of biogas systems.

4. Unstable: It is also somewhat unstable, making it prone to

explosions if the methane comes in contact with oxygen and
become flammable in nature.

Even with all of the disadvantages present, countries have started

to apply the uses of biogas in everyday life. Public transportation
has been renewed and made efficient with the help of CNG.
Remote locations that are off the electric grid receive a steady
supply of power from these plants. The future use of biogas is
bright, even with the problems it faces.

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-biogas.php

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287759726_Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Bioga
s_Energy
Biogas and Climate Change The great majority of scientists
believe that the Earths climate is changing due to increasing
atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases produced by human activities. How can biogas
reduce greenhouse gas emissions from human activities?
1.Biogas contains methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a
warming effect that is 21 times greater than that produced by
carbon dioxide. When methane is burnt it is converted to carbon
dioxide. By burning the methane produced on landfill sites and
animal waste lagoons on large farms, we reduce the potency of
the greenhouse gases produced by our organic waste. 2. Biogas
can also be used as an alternative to fossil fuels such as coal,
diesel and oil for electricity generation and to power vehicles.
Burning biogas produces carbon dioxide, so why is it better than
fossil fuel? All organic matter, including all fossil fuel, was
originally produced through photosynthesis. When fossil fuels are
burnt, they release carbon dioxide that was removed from the
atmosphere many millions of years ago. At current rates of
photosynthesis, the ancient carbon from fossil fuels cannot be
removed quickly enough to stop atmospheric concentrations of
carbon dioxide increasing. In contrast, biogas is made from
recently grown organic matter. Even if this organic matter has
passed along a food chain before it is used to make biogas, the
carbon dioxide produced when it is burnt could potentially be
balanced by carbon removed from the atmosphere by
photosynthesis. The important thing is that a balance exists on a
short timescale.

More information: The Biomass Energy Centre website

http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk

What effect will the use of biogas have on Climate Change?

One or two biogas plants will have no measurable effect. But
millions might. Every cubic metre of biogas used for energy is
replacing some other fuel. As I have mentioned in the page on the
Oil Drum Digester, in the African village that fuel will often be
charcoal or firewood. Reducing the demand for charcoal will not
directly slow down the build up of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere. However, it will have an effect on the forests. Forests
do represent a reservoir of carbon - that is, if the carbon is held in
the form of wood it cannot be in the atmosphere creating the
Greenhouse Effect. (Forests have other effects, as their
transpiration causes cloud cover which itself affects the world's
climate, both locally and globally).

Biogas can also substitute for Kerosene, which is derived from oil
products and so, whenever it is burned, new CO2 enters the
atmosphere. Kerosene burning does have an affect on the climate
problem - making it worse. However, compared to the
CO2 emissions of the large industrial countries that caused by
using kerosene for cooking in tropical countries is small.

My personal opinion is that the fact that biogas production

substitutes for oil products, thus protecting the user from price
changes, is probably a more important reason for encouraging its
adoption than any consideration of climate change. But there is
certainly one condition that would be important here.

The Kyoto Agreement advocates the setting up of a trading

system in carbon emissions. It seems to me that every biogas
production unit should sell emission credits which industrial
producers should pay for. That is, every farm-sized biogas
plant should receive a credit from the trading system in actual
money (hard currency).

In this way the value of the non-carbon emitting energy can be

recognised. Carbon credits would not be a form of Aid, but a
legitimate business payment for an important service provided
that the world as a whole needs. A National Association of Biogas
owners should be formed to negotiate these payments both via
National governments and from the trading exchange itself. Both
governments and individual farmers would then have an incentive
for installing the necessary apparatus. There should soon be a
local industry of making cheap biogas apparatus. Photovoltaic
users should also receive these credits, based on the number of
kilowatt hours they produce. How the quantities are verified has to
be decided. Some kind of inspectorate would be needed to make
sure that the gas was actually being made and used. This would
be paid for by the Carbon Credit Exchange.

When governments take climate change seriously the mass

adoption of biogas will certainly be one of the strategies to be
used. In the tropical areas a combination of biogas, photovoltaics
and hydro power will probably become the main alternatives to
the fossil fuels. All these should receive payment from the carbon
credit exchange - what will become in effect a tax on carbon
emissions (whatever form of words is used). At the point where
the use of oil and coal is declining the carbon credit payments will
diminish and all these carbon-free energy sources will stand on
their own feet.