IS BIOGAS BEST ?
Biogas has a number of applications , one of which is to power vehicles such as this Volkswagen which runs on the fuel
environmental problem , global ones , in a sustainable city development without making those sacrifices ?”
Biogas , along with wind and solar installations , was a big part of that answer .
Growing Pains Still , there is room for improvement .
One major hurdle is the financial one . Startup costs for biogas plants are quite high , and that ’ s hurt their potential deployments in countries such as the U . S .
It ’ s estimated that there are roughly 2,100 biogas systems operating in the U . S . currently , though the potential exists for at least 10,000 more . There is also concern that agricultural production will shift toward growing fuel , such as maize , rather than actual edible crops .
In fact in Germany 30 % of the total maize harvest was fed into AD digesters . That biogas expansion has led to massive land use change at the expense of permanent grassland — creating so-called ‘ maize-deserts ’:
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