Читать книгу Los Desafíos Jurídicos de la Transición Energética - Isabel González Ríos - Страница 24

Under the current legislation and latest political agreements6 the European Union has committed itself to become climate neutral by 2050. The updated goal for 2030, as proposed recently by The Commission7, is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% (compared to 1990 levels). The process of making detailed legislative proposals concerning the new goal of 55% was scheduled to be finished by July 20218. Goals set out by the EU are very ambitious and consequently, every solution that offers the possibility of reducing GHG should be considered.

It is necessary to adapt all vital economy sectors towards climateneutrality. While most of the EU greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the energy supply systems, significant emissions come also from agriculture (12,52% measured in CO2 eq) 9. The main problem in this sector is caused by methane, which “causes 28 times more warming per molecule than carbon dioxide over the course of a century and nitrous oxide, which causes 265 times more warming10”. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop solutions that will reduce emissions coming from agriculture and at the same time will not affect the food security. In the European Green Deal, the EU Commission has underlined the necessity of addressing the methane emissions as part of the commitment to reach climate neutrality by 205011. Poland is one of the leading countries in Europe when it comes to manure production, which emits more methane than slurry12.

Another relevant sector is transport, which is responsible for around 22% (measured in CO2 eq) of emissions13. The EU has committed itself to reduce 90% of greenhouse gas emissions coming from this sector by 2050. While electric cars are a promising technology, there is a very convincing argument in the discourse –charging up electric cars with fossil fuel– fired electricity is in fact swapping one fossil fuel for another. This is an important problem in the case of countries where electricity is produced mostly from fossil fuels, such as Poland. Moreover, current development of batteries does not provide us with a practical option for electric heavy-duty transport (trucks, buses)

Consequently, it is necessary to invest in technologies that will resolve the issues concerning agriculture and transport sectors, as they are responsible for a notable share of GHG emissions. Significant attention should be paid to biogas (in particular, biogas based on agricultural biomass), a renewable source of energy with numerous possible applications, solving many challenges at the same time. As The Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) reads, biogas is the gaseous fuel produced from biomass, while agricultural biomass is the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from biological origin from agriculture including vegetal and animal substances. Biogas can contribute to providing clean energy for the electricity sector, the heating sector and transport sector while curbing GHG emissions, particularly - methane. This single technology offers the most effective possibility to manage waste from agriculture (e.g. manure), and subsequently apply its product directly in transport thus contributing to the reduction of GHG coming from both sectors.

As indicated, according to the EU strategy to reduce methane emissions, it is essential for biogas developments to be based primarily on waste or residues. This corresponds with circular economy action plan, one of the main elements of the European Green Deal, adopted by the European Commission14. Importantly, RED II focuses on limiting food and feed crop-based biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels. Member states are obliged to set gradually decreasing limits of using this kind of substrates. The goal is to avoid creating additional demand for land, since the extension of agriculture on forests, wetlands etc. may cause the release of CO2 (ILUC – indirect land use change). Therefore, it is significant according to RED II, to promote the use of waste and residues, and biogas addresses this postulate.

RED II draws attention to the development of the local energy communities (RECs – Renewable Energy Communities). It is considered that biogas plants can serve as an important element of this concept. In Poland, the Renewable Sources Act recognizes RECs in form of energy clusters and energy cooperatives. Unlike the sun and the wind, which are intermittent sources, biogas plants can produce electricity up to 8500 MWh/MW per year and thus play a key-role in stabilizing the energy mix. Biogas plants, local renewable energy sources, ensure the country’s security since the production is distributed and this naturally increases security of the energy supply. Moreover, biogas technology may offer many opportunities in rural areas, as it generates additional income for farmers and creates new jobs. The significance of these aspects, that is providing energy supply security and opportunities for employment and regional development, has been underlined in RED II.

During the process of Anaerobic Digestion together with biogas digestate, a natural, green fertilizer is being formed. This is a great asset of biogas technology, since digestate can easily replace mineral fertilizers and thus emissions that are related to their production will be avoided. Finding substitute for mineral fertilizers is crucial in view of the fact that the world population steadily grows, and this naturally goes hand in hand with bigger consumption. According to the EU law15 digestate can be used for fertilizing purposes.

Although most common application of biogas technology is to produce electricity combined with heat (CHP), biogas may be further upgraded to natural gas quality and directly injected (as a biomethane) in the gas grids or used as renewable transport fuel (as bioCNG, bioLNG or biocomponent). As Article 25 of RED II provides, each Member State shall set an obligation on fuel suppliers to ensure that the share of renewable energy within the final consumption of energy in the transport sector is at least 14% by 2030. Within the target of 14%, there is a special provision regarding contribution of biofuels (that is liquid fuel for transport produced from biomass) and biogas produced from the feedstock listed in Part A of Annex IX that, as a share of final consumption of energy in the transport sector, shall be at least 0,2% in 2022, at least 1% in 2025 and at least 3,5% in 2030. Using feedstock listed in Annex IX in the production of biofuels and biogas for transport gives a possibility to consider their contribution to be twice their energy content. According to Annex VI, the biggest potential for greenhouse gases savings presents animal slurry – wet manure (up to 240% savings when used for electricity production from biogas/up to 202% savings in the case of biomethane used for transport).

What is essential about the development of renewable energy sources is that the world needs solutions for storing energy, especially when the energy mix within next years will be increasingly dependent on non-stable sources, like PV or wind power. RED II indicates the need to develop energy storage systems for integrated variable production of energy from renewable sources. Liquefied biomethane derived from biogas might be a solution, as it is an easily storable and transportable energy carrier16 – liquefaction reduces the volume of gas by approximately 600 times and one cubic meter stores 6 MWh17.

As indicated, biogas and its upgraded form, biomethane generate renewable energy for different sectors, improve energy security, balance the energy networks, reduce GHG emissions (methane in particular), create jobs locally, provide agriculture with green fertilizer and deal with mismanaged organic waste. Based on World Biogas Association calculations, sector of biogas has the potential to cut global GHG emissions by 13%18. MEPs from different countries have recently signed a petition to the European Commission, explaining the advantages of biomethane. As they stated, “biomethane turns waste into a resource; scientific findings show that biomethane contributes, directly or indirectly, to every one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals; this makes biomethane unique compared to other alternatives in the areas of waste treatment and transport”19.

Poland plays a special role in this transformation - it has one of the largest shares of fossil fuels in the energy mix in Europe, a huge task in reducing GHG emissions by over 150 million Mg by 2030 and a large agricultural sector, largely based on livestock production. Combined with the structural problem of achieving renewable energy goals in transport, Poland is becoming an ideal testing ground for maximizing the use of high-reduction biomethane to drive bio-CNG or bio-LNG vehicles. Without a doubt, biogas and biomethane have a potential to play a deciding role in energy transition.