Common Futures supports the Biomethane Industrial Partnership (BIP), a public-private partnership focused on achieving 35 bcm annual production of sustainable biomethane by 2030, as defined in the REPowerEU plan. The BIP consist of the European Commission, 21 EU Member States and over 40 industry actors.
Biomethane is rapidly growing in importance in Europe. Production has increased to over 3 bcm in 2022 and the REPowerEU target for 35 bcm by 2030 has put biomethane in the spotlight. However, developments are not yet proceeding fast enough to realise the targeted scale-up. Several barriers still limit the necessary acceleration of biomethane production, distribution and use.
The BIP activities are structured in five Task Forces, each working on a specific topic related to enhancing biomethane production and consumption. Common Futures supports three Task Forces as rapporteur, carrying responsibility for the creation of deliverables based on input from BIP members.
National targets, strategies and policies (TF1)
Task Force 1 consists of 21 Member States, the European Commission and the European Biogas Association. The goal of TF1 is to provide a platform for exchange of best practices among EU Member States and provide them with useful insights to develop national biomethane targets, strategies and policies.
Accelerated biomethane project development (TF2)
Task Force 2 is comprised of representatives from ~30 companies and organisations, that collectively operate throughout the EU. The purpose of this Task Force is to analyse barriers to scale-up investments in biomethane production capacity and to identify best practices and suggestions to overcome these to create a positive business case. The first two deliverables are published during the European Biomethane Week in October 2023.
Download the report on how to accelerate biomethane project development here, and the report on how to accelerate biomethane permitting here.
Cost efficiency of biomethane production and grid connection (TF4)
Task Force 4 provides insights into best practices for efficient biomethane production and grid injection. The focus of Common Futures support has been on identifying biomethane production costs based on insights from project developers, taking into account differences in installation size and feedstock mix. A range of companies provided real cost data in an anonymised manner in a first-of-a-kind data collection process. The results of this work can provide valuable insights to the biomethane industry and policy makers.
Download the Executive Summary of Task Force 4.2 here, and the Final report of Task Force 4.2 here.
Common Futures played a strong and important role in the activities of the Biomethane Industrial Partnership in 2023. As rapporteur for some of the Task Forces they have been instrumental in aligning the insights of all the stakeholders in a set of strong perspectives and initial deliverables making this unique partnership effective in its first year of existence.
Harmen Dekker
CEO, European Biogas Association
