Useless waste or valuable resource?

It's a question of know-how.

By using biomass, whether in solid, liquid or gas form, we can make a sustainable contribution to environmental protection. A number of processes have already been

developed for commercial biomass utilization. Extracting energy from biomass is largely climate neutral, because the energy-conversion process releases only as much CO2 as the living plants absorbed while they were in the ground. The energy-conversion technology used depends on the type of biomass-solid, liquid or gas.

Solid biomass such as wood, straw and other suitable plant material can be burned, gasified or pyrolized to produce heat which can then be used to produce electricity or a range of synthesis products, such as methanol. The term 'liquid biomass' refers to vegetable oils that can be used as fuel. Biogas can be produced by fermentation. This involves using bacteria to decompose organic material under anaerobic conditions. The decomposition process produces gases, mainly biogas, landfill gas, or digester gas. The types of biomass suitable for biogas production include liquid manure, solid manure, above-ground plant and crop-grown biomass, organic waste and residues.

E.ON Energie is involved in a range of innovative biogas projects. We use biogas in micro gas turbines and fuel cells, and feed treated biogas into existing natural-gas transmission networks.