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After years of stagnation and questions about its environmental impact, Germany’s biogas sector is once again drawing attention amid Berlin’s efforts to reduce its energy dependence on Moscow due to the war in Ukraine.
An hour's drive west of Berlin, Peter Kaim's farm is dominated by the strong odor emanating from three long spheres placed in the middle of a muddy field shared with 100 cows.
Every day, tons of organic waste—mainly manure, corn, and grass—are dumped into these containers. Through a process called “methanization,” driven by bacteria, this organic matter is converted into gas.
The small power plant heats about 20 homes in the village of Ribbeck, known for a pear tree praised by the German writer Theodor Fontane in a classic 19th-century poem.
"Everything 'comes 100% from our farm,'" says Kaim, proud to have "independent" energy production amid the war in Ukraine, which has driven up prices.
The farmer is asking regional authorities to “adopt simpler authorization procedures” to help biogas play a greater role in Germany’s energy mix.
Like Kaim, the entire sector views the current crisis as an opportunity, which has led Berlin to reduce its dependence on Russia, from which it imported 55% of its natural gas, half of its coal, and 35% of its oil.
In a sign that the message was getting through, the German government announced last week its intention to “increase production of ‘green’ gas” as part of its strategy to build greater resilience in the face of rising energy prices.
– Nord Stream –
For now, biogas accounts for only 1% of energy consumption in Europe’s largest economy. But “we could immediately increase our production by 20% and replace 5% of Russian gas if certain regulatory barriers were lifted tomorrow,” Horst Seide, president of the German Biogas Producers’ Federation, told AFP.
According to him, a coordinated effort to promote the sector would, in the long term, make it possible to “produce two-thirds of the capacity of Nord Stream 2,” the controversial gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany that Berlin suspended at the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February.
The history of biogas in Germany goes back decades. In the early 2000s, the country committed to this sector and became a European leader. Even today, half of the continent’s biogas plants are located in Germany.
But in early 2014, the German government changed course and decided to cut the industry's production capacity through a complex system of subsidies.
The main objection was the massive industrialization of the sector, which posed a major environmental problem due to the risk of water contamination and pollutant gas leaks.
They also claimed that land used for agriculture and livestock farming was being taken over for energy production.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 14% of Germany's agricultural land is already being used for energy production.
The number of new facilities opened plummeted: from 1,526 in 2013 to 94 in 2014, shortly after the regulatory change. In 2021, only 60 were registered.
– “Food insecurity” –
The industry insists it has learned from its mistakes and wants to be part of the solution to wean itself off Russian gas, but is calling for more flexible regulations.
However, some experts are skeptical.
“Given the prospect of future food insecurity due to the war in Ukraine, it is difficult to justify an increase in biogas production using the current model,” Michael Sterner, an energy researcher at the University of Regensburg, told AFP.
Production can be expanded in a “decentralized” manner, using small facilities and “sustainable raw materials,” says Ingo Baumstark, a spokesperson for the Federation of German Industries.
The sector explains that it wants to move away from corn monoculture dedicated exclusively to energy production and focus instead on agricultural waste and byproducts.
However, this model—which is better from an environmental standpoint—requires a massive logistical operation, since, according to the German Environment Agency, 80% of the organic matter currently used in the sector comes from plants grown exclusively for that purpose.
