Nature Energy

CONGRATULATIONS To Thomas Kloster Booth, who won the prize for the best bachelor's degree project by the Danish Engineer’s Association Maskinmestrenes Forening Right now, Thomas B. is traveling through South America and has just fixed an old engine dehydrating herbs and fruits on an old coffee farm. In the fall of 2024, he spent time at our facility, Månsson, where he dug into the issue of sand coming into our facility. Sand reduces our productivity and can be costly to handle. Thomas took a deep dive into the processes, the numbers, and the lab to come up with a solution. We are happy to provide the opportunity to work on our facilities for educational purposes, and we are happy to see the effort put into the projects. As plant manager Stephan Gredler puts it: “Thomas went really thoroughly with analyses of biomass, sand grains, and much more, and this is also what has made his project and recommendations so useful.” As justification for the first prize, the assessment committee emphasizes, among other things, that the project 'presents a solution to a problem that is well known across many biogas facilities, and which thus has a direct application in the industry.' Well done! And thank you for your effort. Safe travels and all the best wishes from all of us at Nature Energy.  

At Nature Energy, we hold a lot of know-how within a wide range of subjects related to energy and energy transition. We are happy to share it. In this case, our colleague Mette Smedegaard Hansen was invited by the Danish National Ukraine Fund to share her insights on how biogas can play a role in rebuilding the Ukrainian energy system. With the potential of producing 20 billion m³ of biogas a year, it goes far beyond a narrow element of energy. It is about the circular economy. Security of supply of energy, fertilizer, and handling the organic waste that is an inevitable consequence of eating. Additionally, an extremely large number of modern large-scale biogas plants in Ukraine will support all kinds of progress with a significant positive impact on job creation, know-how, and development. It is not magic. It is a molecule we need and a molecule that can easily replace fossil energy, especially within the hard-to-abate sectors, and can step in when we have no wind and when the sun doesn’t shine. It is biogas - it is so much more than CH₄.

Filling our first five trucks running on liquefied biogas! The world needs alternative energy sources for heavy transportation. We have a solution: Biogas. And it works out-of-the-box. We have the feedstock, the infrastructure, the gas-driven trucks and buses, and the know-how to turn organic waste into biogas – an energy source that can replace fossil fuels within the hard-to-abate sectors. We believe that we should rely on various renewable sources and technologies. Using biogas for heavy transportation is a fast track for paving the way for a sustainable future by turning waste into value. Did you know that biogas is: 💡 Chemically identical to natural gas but made through the fermentation of waste and residues, which is an inevitable consequence of our need to eat. 💡 Offering a stable and reliable production of energy 24/7/365 regardless of the weather, thereby playing a crucial role in securing a stable supply of energy. 💡 Supporting the circular economy by reusing all the nutrients as fertilizer for tomorrow's food production. Go buy a gas-driven truck. It works out-of-the-box, is easy and quick to fill, and will make a huge difference – today.

Happy Biogas New Year! 2024 in short: ✅ 1 inauguration ✅ 2 Groundbreaks ✅ 5 million tons of organic waste converted into energy ✅ 200 million m³ of biogas injected into the gas grid In France, we inaugurated a large-scale facility along with our partner, Dijon Céréales. The facility turns middle crops and other non-animal waste and residues into biogas. On the island of Lolland, recently connected to the Danish gas grid, we started the construction of a facility that will turn the beet pulp from the local sugar factories into biogas, which in turn will be used by Nordzucker AG's local factories. Just outside Aarhus, construction is moving ahead as you can see in the timelapse below. All in all, a lot of progress in 2024! And we need it. The world needs it. Biogas is a low carbon solution. It offers a stable and locally produced energy that: 💡 Steps in where electricity falls short – especially in the hard-to-abate sectors. 💡 Produces energy 24/7/365 regardless of the weather. 💡 Is easy to store for later use. 💡 Works out of the box. No need for new infrastructure. 💡 Secures a local and ongoing supply of fertilizer for tomorrows food production. What’s not to like? A big thanks to all connections for your support and your questions. And a big thanks to all colleagues taking care of our biogas facilities while the rest of us have days off for Christmas and New Year. Let's repeat it: Biogas is a low carbon solution that we all need! Happy New Year – may 2025 be filled with biogas and all other low-carbon solutions pushing the energy transition forward.  

As 2024 draws to a close, I’m taking a moment to reflect on a year of meaningful progress. From advancing Renewable Gas and Sustainable Aviation Fuel to achieving milestones in Carbon Capture and Storage and Hydrogen, this year has been about turning ambition into action. I’m proud of the work our teams and partners have done to accelerate the energy transition, and I’m optimistic about what we can achieve together in 2025. I’ve shared my reflections and vision for the year ahead in this article — have a read.

DECEMBER And time for put up the christmas tree. If you could have one wish, what would you ask the Biogas-Santa-Claus for in order to keep Low Carbon Solutions moving forward?

GROUNDBREAK While excavators have been preparing the site for the construction of a new, large-scale, and modern biogas facility for a while, we never miss a chance to celebrated the mandatory milestone groundbreak for a greener future. The facility is located on the island of Lolland, which was recently connected to the Danish gas grid to support the ambition of having 100% biogas on the grid by 2030. This way, the 450,000 tons of organic waste we annually turn into biogas at Lolland will benefit the whole energy transition, especially within the hard-to-abate sectors. The list of benefits is too long to fully enumerate, but the following must be particularly highlighted: 💡 It works out of the box. Today. 💡 We have the infrastructure, the feedstock, and the needs and offtake. 💡 It offers stable production 24/7, supporting the security of the supply of locally produced energy. 💡 It is easy to store for later use. 💡 It gives us easy access to biogenic CO2 for CCUS. In the picture from the left: Mayor of Lolland Kommune, Holger Schou Rasmussen, Chief Construction Officer Jesper Bundgaard, Chairman of the committee at Lolland Kommune Tine Vinther Clausen and deputy mayor Henrik Jacobsen. Big thanks to the crew on site for letting us disturb the construction! And Jesper Blæsild for the shot!

BIOGAS – SO MUCH MORE THAN CH4 Last week European Biogas Association successfully put biogas on the agenda with a week of insights, discussions, and networking on how biogas plays a key role in the energy transition by turning waste into value. We handed in two pictures for the annual photo contest. Take a moment to dwell on them and read the description: EYE OF THE BEHOLDER To embrace the full potential, you have to comprehend that there is more than meets the eye. MEET THE METHANOGENS When you place a small drop of organic waste and residue under a microscope, you can get a glimpse of some of our little helpers in the green transition. The methanogens.   Just how much help they can offer depends on understanding how they behave and react, and their preferences.   This knowledge tells us how to create the best environment in the digester tank to get the most value from the waste. There are so many molecules just waiting to be captured. We are still just scraping the surface of designer manure and how to take care of limited resources like phosphorus.   It is not manure – it’s biochemistry at its finest.    That’s why biogas is so much more than just CH4. 💡  💡  💡 Congratulations to SYSADVANCE for winning this year's photo contest! Thank you Søren Kuhn for the great shot and thank you Lars Ole Lykke Bundgaard for letting us in on your home turf - our world-class laboratory - and for being a tremendously good model and for being the face of this. 

SHARING IS CARING If you have been to a modern biogas plant, what was your biggest surprise?   If you haven’t – what are you curious about?   Every year we welcome hundreds of visitors to our modern large-scale biogas facilities.   They arrive in small and larger groups domestically and from abroad to learn more about the Danish way of producing biogas. Some visits are organized by the The Trade Council, some by regional governments like the Provincie Overijssel, and some by NGOs and schools.   This fall is no exception.   Among others, we had visitors from participants at the Fortes Media Group European Conference Biogas PowerOn, technical staff from Evida, Energinet, Greater Copenhagen EU Office, and Region Sjælland.   Standing out is a Group of 100 students at ZBC - Zealand Business College spending a whole day getting to our Facility in Glansager to see and learn about our Power-to-Gas-technology and afterward bring it into the classroom.   We just love to give guided tours at our modern biogas facilities. Sharing perspectives, thoughts, worries, and solutions is caring by sharing.   Time-consuming? Yes!   Worth every minute spent? Absolutely!   By keeping an open mind on how different energy sources and technologies can be each other’s dance partners and not competitors, we keep getting better at decarbonizing.    

Det her er det første anlæg i verden af sin slags. Og man kan sparke dæk på det. Røre ved det. Tænde og slukker efter behov. Og det virker. Klar til at blive skaleret ved behov.