Gas Natural Fenosa: This new use of biogas is an efficiency improvement over normal electrical production, as it obtains much more energy.
Renewable natural gas (RNG or biomethane) will fuel vehicles in the fleet of the city of Pamplona’s County Council as part of a pilot project presented this week by Gas Natural Fenosa and Spanish business group Hera. The latter company provides industry environmental services around the globe. Additionally, the pilot project will analyse potential injection into the distribution network.
This initiative has the support of NILSA (a public company attached to the Government of Navarre), the public corporation Sodena, the private companies FCC and TCC, and the Pamplona County Council.
The project is one of the first of its kind in Spain in this field and is being promoted by Gas Natural Fenosa in order to develop the market for renewable gases, including biomethane. It fits in the context of the fight against climate change, and specifically aims to find sustainable alternatives to using diesel fuel, one of the main sources of pollutant emissions.
The biogas at the wastewater treatment plant in Arazuri (Navarre) comes from organic waste products obtained in the wastewater treatment process. The resulting sludge is subjected to an anaerobic digestion process which produces biomethane and compost. Since this anaerobic digestion plant started up, the biogas has mainly been used to produce electricity for self-supplying the facility.
The new technology that has been developed aims to use biogas in heavy vehicles in the County Council’s fleet. This new use of biogas is an efficiency improvement over normal electrical production, as it obtains much more energy.
After this pioneering Spanish pilot project for heavy vehicles is completed, different factors such as the quality of the biogas obtained, vehicle consumption and the production capacity will be analysed. The information obtained may then be used to take decisions on the possibility of extending this sustainable fuel to the entire County Council fleet and the feasibility of injecting it into the natural gas mains.
Gas Natural Fenosa is currently participating in seven projects to develop technologies related to renewable gases, in which it collaborates closely with important players in the Spanish and international sector to promote the biomethane market.
(Source: Gas Natural Fenosa)
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