In the future, in Germany, more and more agricultural land will be used to cultivate energy crops to produce renewable raw materials. Spurred by the German Renewable Energy Act (REA) and the constant rise in world market prices of oil and gas, biogas is experiencing very strong growth.

Biogas is created when organic substances decompose in air-free environments. Bacteria convert carbohydrates and other organic matter into a combustible gas mixture, largely consisting of methane and carbon dioxide.

E.ON champions biogas as a novel alternative fuel. About 700 MW of electric capacity have already been installed in Germany. One of the major challenges involves cleansing biogas of a number of trace substances, which can cause problems when biogas is used.

If biogas could be processed to match the quality of natural gas and fed into the gas distribution network, the fuel could be used efficiently in a number of applications. This is why E.ON will push to make inroads in processing biogas to match the quality of natural gas and feeding the fuel into the gas grid working with manufacturers by investing in demonstration plants.