Optimized logistics for biogas production

About the project

Biogas has a unique potential to reduce fossil fuel dependency and the climate impact from waste, manure and fuel supply. Previous studies have indicated a potential to produce up to 14 TWh biogas from agricultural substrates in Sweden, and a significant part of this growth potential is found in small-scale plants. In order to increase the utilization of the Swedish agriculture-based biogas potential, not only financial support, but also knowledge, methodology and tools for strategic planning are required.

Important steps to improve the conditions for increasing biogas production is therefore to learn from existing plants and to develop improved tools for strategic planning and efficient logistics, so that the most appropriate places and the most efficient logistic chains for biogas production can be identified. To identify the best opportunities for efficient and profitable biogas production, complex interactions between substrate mix, plant size, gas utilization and transport demand need to be taken into account. On other words, the system needs to be considered as a whole.

The purpose of this project has been to generate knowledge and tools that can improve the conditions for new biogas production. The specific objectives are to promote logistics experiences from existing facilities, to develop an optimization model for strategic planning, and to apply the model in a concrete case study in Sofielund, south of Stockholm, with Scandinavian Biogas Fuels AB.

Field trips and interviews were undertaken to collect information and summarize experiences from Swedish and German crop and manure-based biogas production.