Biogas Market Overview
Prominent market trends identified in the global biogas market include mergers and acquisitions between market players, and technology transfer by major companies to sustain or strengthen their market share. A number of these activities are supported by governments in order to reduce dependency on conventional energy sources and to reduce the threat from global warming and harmful effects of greenhouse gases. Due to this, biogas has become priority in the energy generation mix in most of the countries of Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific (APAC).
Biogas is produced by anaerobic fermentation of biodegradable materials or by the action of anaerobic organisms (bacteria) on organic matter. Mostly, the gas is produced by decomposing municipal waste, plant materials, food waste, and manure. In this process, organic matter is biologically broken down in the presence of oxygen. Anaerobic fermentation allows manufacturers to convert unwanted gases such as nitrous oxide and methane into biogas. The gas is a mixture of approximately 50–70% methane and 30–40% carbon dioxide. The biogas market is segmented on the basis of application and geography.
On the basis of application, the biogas market is classified into power generation, domestic fuel, and vehicle fuel. Among these, power generation category holds the significant share in the market. This is due to the fact that several countries are converting their coal-based powerplants to gas-based due to high levels of carbon emissions by the former. This in turn, is expected to drive the demand for biologically sourced gas in the power sector. The vehicle fuel category is generating the second highest demand for the gas as fuel in transportation sector, where compressed biogas (CBG) is used as a substitute for compressed natural gas (CNG).
On the basis of region, the biogas market is categorized into APAC, North America, Latin America (LATAM), Europe, and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Europe is expected to hold significant share in the market during the forecasted period. Several European countries work together in the European Biogas Association, whose directives are to curb carbon emissions. Major biogas producing countries in the region are Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland. Furthermore, other countries such as Belgium, Slovakia, Hungary, and Czech Republic are strengthening their production levels for biogas. The rapid industrial growth along with increasing importance of renewable power generation in China and India is expected to increase the demand for the gas in APAC region.
Biogas Market Dynamics
Drivers
The biogas market is driven by factors like high amount of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions from conventional energy sources, rapid growth in demand for energy sources, depleting conventional sources, and volatile crude oil prices.
Power generation and automobiles are the foremost sectors where most of the energy being used. Additionally, these sectors emit a large volume of greenhouse gases. The high-volume emission levels have led governments to develop favorable regulatory policies toward incentivizing adoption of greener fuels while reducing the dependency on fossil fuels. Across the globe, governments are giving subsidies to encourage the production of biogas and in response to it, many companies are venturing into this growing market and setting up new plants. All these factors are anticipated to contribute to growth of the biogas market.
Restraints
The biogas market is restrained by the requirement of high capital expenditure (capex) for plant installation and commissioning. In order to overcome this, several companies are going through mergers and acquisitions, and technology transfer to develop integration across the value chain.
Biogas Market Competitive Landscape
Some of the major players operating in the global biogas market are Scandinavian Biogas Fuels International AB, EnviTech Biogas AG, L’AIR LIQUIDE S.A., Pressure Technologies Plc., Cryostar SAS, Vanzetti Engineering S.r.l., Himark Biogas Inc., DMT Environmental Technology, MT-Energie GmbH, ACRONA GROUP, and Xebec Adsorption Inc.
The study provides the historical as well the forecast market size data for various countries including the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
