Have you ever wondered what role biogas actually plays in our energy mix? Biogas plants in Germany supply more than nine million households with electricity and over 2.5 million households with heat. After all! Biogas can also be processed into biomethane. Biomethane has the advantage that it can be fed into the natural gas network. But in Germany, biogas is mainly produced, only a fraction is refined into biomethane. How sustainable biogas is always depends on what the biogas plant is filled with. Biogas is often produced from corn - despite all the criticism of corn as an energy crop, it produces a comparatively large amount of energy. But biogas and biomethane can also be produced with industrial waste, for example from the remains of sugar beets. Biogas can make a contribution to the energy transition and is even climate-neutral if it is obtained from organic waste. But how common is this sustainable biogas in Germany? And could this domestic renewable energy make a contribution to the energy transition? We look at biogas plants of different sizes in Germany and visit our neighbors in Denmark. The Danes already cover a third of their gas needs with biogas – but what exactly do they do differently than us? Author: Sarah Schommer Editor: Niels Waibel ???? Chapter marks ???? 00:00 Intro 00:19 Basics of biogas 02:39 Lack of funding 05:13 Development of biogas plants in Germany 06:24 Corn - the controversial substrate 07:31 Biomethane from residues 10:18 Biogas vs. biomethane 12:46 RePower EU plan 15:07 Biomethane in Denmark 18:41 Power-to-X ???????? Our sources ???????? ???? Study by the German Biomass Research Center https://www.dbfz.de/fileadmin/user_up... ???? IFEU Institute, study https://www.ifeu.de/fileadmin/uploads... ???? EBA European Biogas Association, Statistical Report 2022 ???? Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36273... ???? Biogas Association eV ???? Federal Environment Agency ????????‍???? Welcome to SWR Wissen ????‍???????? Exciting stories and exciting science - here you will find the topics that are currently being discussed. Straight from real life. We provide background information and put it into context - well researched and free of ideology. So that you can form your own opinion. We look forward to exchanging ideas with you and to an objective discussion. This works best when we treat each other with respect. ???? Our netiquette: https://www.swr.de/netiquette ???? More knowledge in the media library: https://ardmediathek.de/wissen ❤️ SWR Wissen: / @swrwissen ___ #biogas #biomethane #energiewende