BioGNVAL

Preindustrial trial of the production and distribution of liquid biomethane fuel from wastewater treatment plant biogas

project supported by ademe as part of the circular economy programme (of the investments for the future programme - pia)

Duration: 2.5 years

Launch: February 2013

Total cost of the project: €6.6M

Including PIA support: €3M

Form of PIA support: subsidies and refundable grants

Location: Valenton (Val-de-Marne)

Coordinator

Context

The development of bioenergy, including biogas produced from biodegradable materials, is a

real opportunity to contribute to the goals set by the European Community for 2020 in its

Climate and Energy package. European directive 2009/28/EC sets each EU member state the

objective of sourcing 10% of the energy consumed by its transport sector from renewable energy

sources by 2020.

The biogas produced by wastewater treatment plants is a resource that can be exploited locally.

It is long-lasting, relatively rich in methane and available near existing local networks such as

industrial parks and gas and fuel distribution infrastructure.

Objectives

The BioGNVAL project aims to convert the biogas resulting from wastewater treatment into a

renewable and easily stored source of energy in the form of liquid biofuel. This transformation

requires two stages:

Purification (or enrichment): the biogas consists of two main homogeneous constituents,

methane or CH4 (55 – 65%) and carbon dioxide or CO2 (35 – 45%). The remainder is a

complex mixture of many minor components (oxygen, nitrogen, H2S etc.) which must be

treated;

Liquefaction: in order to produce liquid biomethane (bio-LNG), a liquefaction step is required

so that it can be used as fuel for vehicles.

Implementation

The BioGNVAL project focuses on three main tasks:

The design and construction of pilot bio-LNG production facilities to research the optimisa-

tion of investment and operating costs and of the energy coupling between cryogenic

purification and liquefaction;

Optimising the value of the bio-LNG by rationalising its storage, logistics and distribution

infrastructure. The challenge is to reduce operating costs in the sector and define a biofuel

price that will be acceptable to end customers and viable for producers and distributors;

Organising the reuse of the liquid CO2 generated by the cryogenic biogas processing in order

to ensure this by-product can be marketed and benefit from its environmental and energy

advantages.

Partners

Seine Amont site (Valenton)

Cre

dit

: SIA

AP

waste and

industrial ecology

ADEME is a public agency reporting jointly to the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy and to the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Expected results

Innovation

The project will provide additional experience in the purifica-

tion and production of liquid biomethane and CO2. It has an

important role to play in promoting the use of biomethane as a

fuel for vehicles, especially in France. The project is the first in

France to produce liquid biomethane, which could play a major

role in long-distance heavy goods transport (over 800 km).

Economy

The project's goal is to favourably position the bio-LNG sector in

relation to other fossil fuel sectors (diesel), with the target

application being long-distance freight transport rather than

local fleets. The project will contribute to energy independence

for local areas by providing a local, long-term, sustainable

source of energy.

Environment

The project will demonstrate the environmental benefits of bio-

LNG production versus fossil fuels. The carbon savings promised

by the project are estimated at 1,500 tCO2 eq per year by using

the fuel to replace diesel. The project will also underline the

health benefits of bio-LNG, a fuel that does not emit particles

classed as carcinogenic by the WHO.

Social

The project aims to establish an emerging sector for the optimal

production and use of a renewable energy resource,

biomethane. It promotes the emergence of an innovative

technology solution from the young French company CRYO-PUR.

The production of fuel from local sustainable resources encou-

rages the creation of jobs that cannot be relocated abroad.

Applications and markets

The project's ambition is to demonstrate the technical and

economic feasibility of producing liquid methane from biogas on

a large scale in order to develop the sector worldwide. This large

-scale deployment will make it possible to replace over 1.1 TWh

of fossil fuels annually and avoid 770,000 tCO2 eq a year by

2030.

The industrial trial will take place at the SIAAP's (Inter-

départmental syndicate for sanitation in the grea-

ter Paris region) Seine Amont wastewater treatment plant in

Valenton (Val de Marne). It will be a life-sized trial to demons-

trate the project's technical and economic viability.

The possibilities for extending the project and applying it to

other regions have been considered for both wastewater

treatment plants in Europe and the Middle East and for

household waste storage and anaerobic digestion in the French

market.

Contact information

Pierre Coursan

pierre.coursan@degremont.com

For more information

www.ademe.fr/invest-avenir

Bio-LNG production plant in Valenton

© S

IAA

P

Bio-LNG truck