TITLE TOPIC systems and reduce pesticide use. These crops are also a good fit for biogas production. So, as you can see, domestic energy production and protecting nature are easily compatible without planting more maize and with a bit more creativity. Politicians just have to finally want to see this happen and chart a course in that direction. In the current situation, we don’t need opinionated people insisting that certain approaches are off the table or politicians wearing blinders. We need an open and swift dialogue about meaningful alternatives. They should at last give us the opportunity to show what we can do! XtraBlatt: What kind of a course do you think should be charted? Horst Seide: Over the past eight years, it would have been easy to gain the impression that politicians are systematically working to put the brakes on biogas as a source of renewable energy – across party lines. So I think it is all the more important to create the necessary framework quickly and fully at long last so that the sector can “step on the gas.” To put it bluntly, we need to take the brakes off. In the context of electricity production, I’m thinking here about maximum limits, for instance. We need to get rid of anything that hinders flexible electricity production, such as the flexible electricity cap. XtraBlatt: What do you mean by that? Horst Seide: The bulk of plants in Germany still work in accordance with old German renewable legislation and are paid an average of €0.20/kWh. Today, some of them already have the ability to feed power into the grid in a flexible manner, in other words at the times of day when electricity prices are the highest on electricity exchanges. And another group already has the technical capabilities for flexible feed-in, but isn’t making use of it yet because prices will stay low up until the autumn. Still, the amount of electricity that a plant can feed into the grid is limited. This cap is redundant. More and more operators want to switch to this flexible model. It’s something that would be really in consumers’ interest, too, as a way of interrupting price peaks on exchanges. Plant operators with around 1000MW of capacity currently take this approach. It cuts peak prices by around €0.15-0.20/kWh. So power from biogas is already reducing the burden on consumers. XtraBlatt: Would this be similar when feeding gas into the network? Horst Seide: It’s something that’s plausible at least. Completely new pricing mechanisms will be developed for this in the future. And it’s already clear that the first major industrial consumers want to enter into fixed DOMESTIC ENERGY PRODUCTION AND PROTECTING NATURE ARE EASILY COMPATI- BLE WITHOUT GROW- ING MORE MAIZE AND WITH A BIT MORE CREATIVITY. HORST SEIDE, PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN BIOGAS ASSOCIATION The Seide farm now operates the first tractor running on CNG as fuel. contracts with companies feeding gas into the network. Freight forwarders and hauliers are another fast-growing customer group at the moment. But it’s important not to forget the current political situation when we’re talking about gas: We need to quickly reduce our dependence on Russia. That’s why it is so important to remove all caps in the gas sector, too. It doesn’t cost any money, but makes sure that Germany could produce up to 20% more biogas within the year. After all, substrate warehouses are full to the brim thanks to good harvests in 2021. And this extra 20% corresponds to 5% of the amount of gas that we currently import from Russia. XtraBlatt: But lengthy approval processes likely mean that this growth will be a long time coming, don’t they? Horst Seide: It’s true that the endless number of challenging approval processes and rules in Germany are a huge hurdle. But if Elon Musk raises the hot topic of e-vehicles and offers sizeable investments, all concerns and rules are thrown overboard – and it even garners praise from high-ranking politicians. Why can’t we do the same for smaller construction projects or even sustainable projects like biogas? In Germany alone, we will need an estimated additional 5000 or so biogas plants to leverage biogas potential – and we can’t wait until 2045. Tesla has shown that if politicians want to move quickly, things can be done So it’s high time that those responsible want to take swift action on biogas... XtraBlatt: You talked earlier about doubling production to 220TWh. Would that be the ceiling? Horst Seide: Not at all! In addition to issues relating to substrate and the number of plants, there is sizeable dormant potential in maximising gas yield. As a rule, raw biogas has a methane content of around 50%, with CO 2 making up the other half. This CO 2 could be converted into methane, too, without any technical issues. The technology to do so already exists and is absolutely suitable for mass production, so it can be installed without having to wait long. XtraBlatt: What might this conversion process look like? TESLA HAS SHOWN THAT IF POLITICIANS WANT TO MOVE QUICKLY, THINGS CAN BE DONE. SO IT’S HIGH TIME THAT THOSE RESPONSIBLE WANT TO TAKE SWIFT ACTION ON BIOGAS... HORST SEIDE, PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN BIOGAS ASSOCIATION Horst Seide: We don’t need any additional expensive infrastructure for hydrogen storage. We turn it straight into methane and feed it directly into the network. What’s really exciting: Some of the infrastructure that is needed to make this happen is already in place, such as gas storage facilities and transformers. We would also need Advantages of more flexible biogas production concepts: Higher storage capacities lead to higher outputs without increasing the substrate input 90 TWh biogas 1.5 times larger facilities 36 TWh electricity 40 TWh heat ~ 6 GW output Today 3 times larger facilities 36 TWh electricity 40 TWh heat ~ 12 GW output 2030 electrolysis units. The result: higher energy density in gas storage facilities. This electrolysis process would add another 220TWh of capacity. If we could make this change at all plants, I estimate the additional amount of energy that could be generated by biogas in Germany each year at 440 to 450TWh. That’s about half of Germany’s electricity needs and 80% of the natural gas imported from Russia. One thing’s clear: We will need large amounts of wind and solar power to make really “green” energy. But gas production is feasible to the degree that I talked about. And it’s something that we need urgently. « 6 times larger facilities 36 TWh electricity 40 TWh heat ~ 24 GW output 2050 Larger storage facilities and more motor capacity help “flexible” biogas plants generate more electricity and heat in the short term. When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, these plants store gas and don’t burn it until energy is needed. 8 9
