Since the beginning of 2018, Air Liquide SA has commissioned three new biomethane production units, in the United States (US), in France, and in the United Kingdom (UK) respectively. With these units, Air Liquide has doubled its biomethane production capacity, which now stands at 60 MW, the equivalent of 500 GWh for a full year of production.
Over the course of the last four years, the France-headed global industrial gas major has decided to invest around EUR 100 million in biomethane production. Currently, the Group operates 10 production units around the world, designed to purify biogas in order to transform it into biomethane and inject it into the natural gas network.
The new biomethane production unit in the United States (US) is located in the Northeast Mississippi Landfill (NEML) site in Walnut, Mississippi (MS) and is the first large-scale unit built by Air Liquide in the US. It purifies the landfill gas (LFG) that results from the decay of household waste at the landfill and transforms it into biomethane.
In Cestas, near Bordeaux in France, and in Northwick, near Birmingham in the UK, the upgrading units purify the biogas from farm waste and transform it into biomethane. Part of this biomethane is used for trucks fueled by bio-NGV (Natural Gas for Vehicles), a clean non-fossil fuel with no fine particulate matter (PM) emissions.
Air Liquide has developed technologies and expertise that cover the entire biomethane value chain: the purification of biogas for its transformation into biomethane, injection into the natural gas networks in collaboration with local players, liquefaction, distribution for clean vehicle fleets fueled by bio-NGV.
The commissioning of these new biomethane production units, whether in the United States or in Europe, illustrates the strong growth in new markets related to the energy transition. In transforming the biogas produced by waste into biomethane using its patented separation and purification technologies, Air Liquide contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality, commented François Darchis, Senior Vice President, member of the Air Liquide Executive Committee supervising innovation.
