Natural gas or biogas?

What are natural gas and biogas? What makes natural gas clean, and why is biogas so environmentally friendly? Let us tell you what these two forms of energy are all about.

Natural gas

Where does natural gas come from? Natural gas consists almost entirely of methane. The gas is created underground as biomass decomposes, and it’s the cleanest of all fossil fuels. Natural gas available in Finland can be utilised in electricity production and heating without further processing. Natural gas can also be refined into liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG).

What is natural gas used for? Natural gas is an excellent energy source in district heating and electricity production, but it’s also popular in industrial processes, as it requires no storage. Natural gas can also be used as an affordable fuel for traffic, and it’s available at gas fuelling stations.

Biogas

Where does biogas come from? Biogas is a 100% renewable form of energy, as it can be produced from almost any biological raw materials. Such raw materials include organic waste, waste water sludge, manure and industrial surplus waste. However, wood-based materials are not suitable for biogas production without processing. The greatest potential lies in field biomass, which is made from materials such as the inedible parts of crops. However, field biomass is not yet utilised in Finland, unlike in Sweden.

How is biogas produced? The raw materials needed for biogas production are transported to the nearest biogas plant, where they are used to produce environmentally friendly and 100% renewable biogas. Biogas is a fixed part of circular economy, as the residual nutrients created during the production are used on fields as fertiliser, which in turn decreases the use of industrially produced fertilisers. In Finland, the use of residual sludge as fertiliser is controlled by the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira.

How is biogas used in Finland? Of all the Nordic countries, Sweden and Denmark use biogas the most – in Finland, only around 4% of the production potential of biogas is utilised. In 2015, gas from biogas plants was used to produce 350 GWh of heat and electricity in Finland, which is equivalent to the heating energy need of approximately 18,000 detached houses. Biogas is used in heating and electricity production, but one growing area of use is traffic, as biogas is the most low-emission traffic fuel available.

Biogas is a green choice!

As a customer of Suomen Kaasuenergia, you can replace natural gas entirely with 100% renewable biogas. Biogas is a more environmentally friendly form of energy than natural gas, and it can be used wherever natural gas is used. Make a choice for sustainable development and switch over to biogas!