Biogas Value Chains - A comparative study of Norwegian and Danish Biogas Production

The BioValueChain project has contributed to increased knowledge and data about how to improve efficiency and effectiveness of biogas value chains in Norway, based in resources from organic waste and manure. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) models have been developed to assess environmental and resource effieciency as well as economic performance of biogas value chains and utilization of biogas. The four main results from the project are: - Better and more updated data for biogas value chains, as well as new models covering manure from poultry production, cumulative energy models and total mass balances. - Evaluation and documentation of Danish and Norwegian biogas value chains with regard to environmental and resource efficiency. - Evaluation and documentation of governmental politics and regulations and how measures taken influence on development of biogas value chains in Norway, with special focus on integration of the waste sector, the agriculture sector and the transport sector. - Evaluation and documentation of how livestock farms can utilize manure in the most effective way either through small scale farm based biogas plants or by transporting manure to central biogas plants. The project has included a PhD program that was finalized with a dissertation 9 February 2018 for Kari Anne Lyng. In addition, the project has generated 5 scientific papers, 4 master thesis at NMBU and a number of reports and news in media.

There is a great potential for better utilization of organic waste and manure in Norway as a resource for biogas production. Net GHG emissions from anaerobic treatment of waste and manure can be reduced with 300-600 kg CO2-equiv./ton compared to incinera tion with energy recovery which is the conventional solution for organic waste treatment today. The total potential for biogas production from organic resources in Norway has been estimated to about 5,5 TWh. The proposed project will focus on the foll owing research questions, based in the need for new knowledge in the area: - How effective and efficient are Danish and Norwegian biogas value chains with regard to economic and environmental net benefits? - What are the main differences between Norwegi an and Danish pre-conditions and measures for the construction and operation of effective biogas infrastructure and value chains? - How does national and EU general politics and regulations and environmental and agricultural politics and regulations influ ence on the effectiveness and efficiency of biogas value chains in the two countries, , and how can regulations more effectively stimulate optimisation of the biogas value chains - Can smaller, locally based biogas plants be a supplement to large industri al scaled plants in Norway and Denmark in order to increase environmental net benefits and resource effectiveness of the value chains? The Value Chain Models for Biogas developed by Ostfold Research, Bioforsk and UMB, which will be applied and further de veloped through the project. The project will be carried out in a partnership with users and research institutes and universities in Norway, and in close collaboration with research institutions in the Danish BioChain project. The project will also have close collaboration and exchange of results a