Markets for AD are evolving

The market potentials for facilities for energy recovery and treatment of biowaste are on the increase; first of all in Europe, but already today we see keen interest from particularly Asia.

Treatment of solid biowaste has come from an inferior position in Europe in the 1990s to a central position today. Up till now the main treatment method was composting - open windrow and increasingly in-vessel composting. Today, anaerobic digestion is politically seen as state of the art. Now, the purchasing markets are evolving, but at a slower pace than politically wanted. But the drivers for moving the market from a fledgling to a mature market are several. Many issues act as drivers, and they are of both political and economic nature:

• EU legislation
  The EU Directive on the Landfill of Waste requires all landfills without a double liner to close down no later than 2009 and introduces a ban on the landfill of biodegradable municipal waste due to the release of methane. In many European countries landfills are still the predominant disposal route, so many countries are facing a huge challenge to find alternatives.
  Further, EU regulation on hygienisation means that open biological plants have to be reduced.
• Waste management strategies
  An increasing number of countries prioritise renewable energy from biowaste in their waste management strategies. For example, in 2007 the UK specified digestion as state-of-the-art technology, where it used to be hardly recognised.
  Many countries have for that reason launched support programmes to promote the generation of renewable energy.[1]
• Infrastructure
  Only in few countries is incineration an alternative to biological treatment. This is due to the fact that no other country has a district heating infrastructure that compares to that of Denmark, allowing for the heat generated in incineration to be utilised. Therefore, small and more decentralised biological treatment plants are of much higher relevance.
• Public opinion
  There is increasing focus on the environment and renewable energy in the media. And concurrently, particularly bio-ethanol from first-generation plants is gaining a bad image, since it uses foodstuff as source of energy. Both trends bring energy from bio waste more into focus.
• Energy prices
  The soaring energy prices and insecurity in the supply from, among others, Russia have led to larger interest in alternative energy sources and a significantly improved competitiveness for renewable energy sources. Since little leads to hope for long term drops in oil prices in the future, this competitiveness is expected to sustain.
• Fertilizer prices
  Prices of chemical fertilizers are sky rocketing. Thus, organic fertilizer, especially from AD is becoming an alternative.
  

[1] UK: ROC's and Double ROCs. Germany: Energie Einspeise Gesetz.

New article on bio directive:

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