Biogas leaders sign Biogas and Climate Change Commitment Declaration

In a ground-breaking Biogas and Climate Change Commitment Declaration, major biogas industry corporations, led by the World Biogas Association (WBA), call on the world’s governments to act urgently to unlock the sector’s potential to cut global greenhouse gases emissions by at least 12 per cent within the next 10 years – and therefore make a considerable contribution towards meeting their Paris Agreement targets. In return, these companies commit to putting their full human, financial and technological resources behind enabling the rapid expansion of biogas in all parts of the globe. It is the first time that so many powerful biogas organizations join forces to both demand – and deliver – solutions to address climate change.

In its recent report, the Global Potential of Biogas, WBA estimated that the number of industrial plants operating globally are currently 132,000. By 2030 there needs to be at least one million large scale installations (each handling over 100,000 t/pa of feedstock) plus millions of smaller scale digesters to achieve the emissions reductions targets. All of these units would enable the biogas industry to prevent four billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent from being emitted annually – the equivalent of all the emissions of the EU28 in 2017. The sector will need to invest some $5 trillion to design, build and operate those plants, but all barriers to those investments existing today must be eliminated if the industry is to achieve its goal. If deployed to its full potential, WBA estimates that the industry would employ around 10 million people worldwide, from 350,000 currently

WBA president David Newman said: “With measures on the ground not yet aligned with countries’ Paris Agreement targets and UN Sustainable Development Goals commitments, the biogas industry calls on the world’s governments to urgently pass legislation to unleash the enormous potential of the biogas industry. We provide a ready to use technology to cut emissions in the hardest to decarbonize sectors, while creating a circular system that transforms the greenhouse gas-emitting organic wastes society produces into renewable energy, bio-fertilizers and other valuable bioproducts. The speed at which climate change is accelerating emphasizes the urgent need for responses that go beyond business-as-usual to remove the barriers to large scale investment in biogas technologies. We need decisive actions now.”

David and WBA chief executive Charlotte Morton will deliver the Declaration in person to H.E. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the COP25 meeting in Spain, which they will be attending as the WBA is an observer party to the Conference.

Signatories to the Declaration:

• World Biogas Association
• Asia Biogas, Thailand
• Clarke Energy, UK
• DMT Environmental Technology, Netherlands and USA
• Eisenmann Corporation, USA
• ENGIE, France
• Greenlane Renewables, Canada
• Greve Biogass, Norway
• Grissan, UK
• IES BIOGAS, Italy
• MONTELLO, Italy
• Nature Energy, Denmark
• OMEX Environmental, UK
• SHV Energy, Netherlands
• SUEZ, France
• WELLE Environmental Group, China