Developing countries urged to use biomethane

MANILA, Philippines — Developing countries in Asia are urged to accelerate the use of biomethane for a just and equitable energy transition, according to experts at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In the multilateral lender’s latest blog,  ADB energy and environment consultant Keshan Samarasinghe and ADB senior energy specialist Stephen Peters recommended actions developing countries in Asia can take to accelerate the use of biomethane.

“To pursue an equitable energy transition, we need to find new ways to produce energy. Biomethane is a low-cost, reliable and community-oriented way to start,” the ADB experts said.

Biomethane can be derived from crop residues, water treatment sludge, gas from landfills, food waste and other organic sources.

“This renewable form of ‘natural gas’ can be used for transport, industry or to make electricity.  It also can be stored, transported in existing pipelines, and is energy efficient, as the heat from its production can be used in other processes,” the ADB experts said.

Among their recommendations to advance the use of biomethane is to leverage data as the biological resources from which the natural gas can be derived from tend to be distributed across large areas.

“The costs of accessing biomethane’s distributed sources are reducing as we can manage data more effectively to identify distributed biological feedstock. This creates the opportunity to exploit biomethane for an equitable transition to renewable energy,” they said.

They also cited reducing subsidies to fossil fuels.

“By incentivizing the use of biomethane, the perverse incentives for fossil fuels and tax losses associated with these incentives can be avoided and redeployed whilst keeping the economy moving,” they said.

In addition, they said new jobs can be created for semi-skilled workers.

The ADB experts also recommended developing regulations that support small businesses.

“Regulations to support these smaller businesses should be developed that are nimble and use circular economy principles. This allows indigenous energy sources to be used by local businesses with local workers for local benefits,” they said.