biognval - ademe.fr · of fossil fuels annually and avoid 770,000 t o2 eq a year by 2030. the...
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BioGNVAL
Preindustrial trial of the production and distribution of liquid biomethane fuel from wastewater treatment plant biogas
project supported by ademe as part of the circular economy programme (of the investments for the future programme - pia)
Duration: 2.5 years
Launch: February 2013
Total cost of the project: €6.6M
Including PIA support: €3M
Form of PIA support: subsidies and refundable grants
Location: Valenton (Val-de-Marne)
Coordinator
Context
The development of bioenergy, including biogas produced from biodegradable materials, is a
real opportunity to contribute to the goals set by the European Community for 2020 in its
Climate and Energy package. European directive 2009/28/EC sets each EU member state the
objective of sourcing 10% of the energy consumed by its transport sector from renewable energy
sources by 2020.
The biogas produced by wastewater treatment plants is a resource that can be exploited locally.
It is long-lasting, relatively rich in methane and available near existing local networks such as
industrial parks and gas and fuel distribution infrastructure.
Objectives
The BioGNVAL project aims to convert the biogas resulting from wastewater treatment into a
renewable and easily stored source of energy in the form of liquid biofuel. This transformation
requires two stages:
Purification (or enrichment): the biogas consists of two main homogeneous constituents,
methane or CH4 (55 – 65%) and carbon dioxide or CO2 (35 – 45%). The remainder is a
complex mixture of many minor components (oxygen, nitrogen, H2S etc.) which must be
treated;
Liquefaction: in order to produce liquid biomethane (bio-LNG), a liquefaction step is required
so that it can be used as fuel for vehicles.
Implementation
The BioGNVAL project focuses on three main tasks:
The design and construction of pilot bio-LNG production facilities to research the optimisa-
tion of investment and operating costs and of the energy coupling between cryogenic
purification and liquefaction;
Optimising the value of the bio-LNG by rationalising its storage, logistics and distribution
infrastructure. The challenge is to reduce operating costs in the sector and define a biofuel
price that will be acceptable to end customers and viable for producers and distributors;
Organising the reuse of the liquid CO2 generated by the cryogenic biogas processing in order
to ensure this by-product can be marketed and benefit from its environmental and energy
advantages.
Partners
Seine Amont site (Valenton)
Cre
dit
: SIA
AP
waste and
industrial ecology
ADEME is a public agency reporting jointly to the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy and to the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.
Expected results
Innovation
The project will provide additional experience in the purifica-
tion and production of liquid biomethane and CO2. It has an
important role to play in promoting the use of biomethane as a
fuel for vehicles, especially in France. The project is the first in
France to produce liquid biomethane, which could play a major
role in long-distance heavy goods transport (over 800 km).
Economy
The project's goal is to favourably position the bio-LNG sector in
relation to other fossil fuel sectors (diesel), with the target
application being long-distance freight transport rather than
local fleets. The project will contribute to energy independence
for local areas by providing a local, long-term, sustainable
source of energy.
Environment
The project will demonstrate the environmental benefits of bio-
LNG production versus fossil fuels. The carbon savings promised
by the project are estimated at 1,500 tCO2 eq per year by using
the fuel to replace diesel. The project will also underline the
health benefits of bio-LNG, a fuel that does not emit particles
classed as carcinogenic by the WHO.
Social
The project aims to establish an emerging sector for the optimal
production and use of a renewable energy resource,
biomethane. It promotes the emergence of an innovative
technology solution from the young French company CRYO-PUR.
The production of fuel from local sustainable resources encou-
rages the creation of jobs that cannot be relocated abroad.
Applications and markets
The project's ambition is to demonstrate the technical and
economic feasibility of producing liquid methane from biogas on
a large scale in order to develop the sector worldwide. This large
-scale deployment will make it possible to replace over 1.1 TWh
of fossil fuels annually and avoid 770,000 tCO2 eq a year by
2030.
The industrial trial will take place at the SIAAP's (Inter-
départmental syndicate for sanitation in the grea-
ter Paris region) Seine Amont wastewater treatment plant in
Valenton (Val de Marne). It will be a life-sized trial to demons-
trate the project's technical and economic viability.
The possibilities for extending the project and applying it to
other regions have been considered for both wastewater
treatment plants in Europe and the Middle East and for
household waste storage and anaerobic digestion in the French
market.
Contact information
Pierre Coursan
For more information
www.ademe.fr/invest-avenir
Bio-LNG production plant in Valenton
© S
IAA
P
Bio-LNG truck