Production of biogas could be 20 times higher
environment
In Salzburg, 20 to 25 times as much biogas could be produced as a substitute for natural gas as has been the case up to now. The Austrian Compost and Biogas Association assumes this. Currently, manure, green waste and organic waste are not used for gas production as often as possible.
Biogas production in Salzburg is currently manageable. In the Siggerwiesen (Flachgau) waste disposal plant, biogas for heat and electricity is produced from the compost and biogas is also produced at Zemka in Zell am See (Pinzgau). There are also a number of plants in Flachgau in which gas is produced from liquid manure or composted green waste. All in all, there is an annual production of around one million cubic meters of biomethane in the state – only a small fraction of the annual consumption of 250 million cubic meters of natural gas in Salzburg.
But there is potential for more gas from biological sources, says Bernhard Stürmer from the Austrian Compost and Biogas Association. “We estimate that we can get somewhere in the range of 20 to 25 million cubic meters in Salzburg,” says Stürmer.
Quota for more bio-methane in gas
For more biogas plants in Salzburg and throughout Austria, however, the introduction of a legal quota would be appropriate, adds Stürmer: “The quota says, as with biodiesel: a certain proportion of the gas that I deliver to the customer must be bio-methane .”
This rate has been talked about for years, now striker sees a realistic chance that it will actually come. In Salzburg, liquid manure in particular, as well as catering waste and leftovers from food production, are well suited as raw materials for the production of biogas.