2

Founded in 2009, the European Biogas

Association (EBA) promotes the deployment of

sustainable biogas production and its use in

Europe. This covers all energetic applications

of biogas like heat, electricity and automotive

fuel. EBA’s membership comprises national

biogas associations, institutes and companies

from over 20 countries all across Europe. The

member associations cover the majority of

producers, companies, consultants and

researchers in the field of biogas within

Europe.

EBA’s strategy defines three priorities:

establish biogas as an important part of

Europe’s energy mix, promote source

separation of household waste to increase the

gas potential and support the production of

biomethane as vehicle fuel.

© EBA, January 2015; All rights reserved

3

Mission and Vision 6

2014 on a timeline 7

Key Policy Focuses 8

Advisory Councils 14

Communication 16

Projects 18

Events and Networking 20

Organisational Structure 22

Partnerships and memberships 23

Content

4

Dear Members, dear Colleagues,

This annual report gives you an insight to the sixth year of EBA’s activities. the association became

a solid biogas knowledge centre in Brussels. This really opens the door for general policy work and

for rewarding results presented in this report. Policy issues touching biogas industry were present

more than ever this year in the European Parliament, and the Commission. We were well engaged

in publishing position papers on topics such as circular economy, End of Waste, digestate safety,

REACH and iLUC, to mention a few. We have launched Scientific Advisory Council (SAC), which is of

a great interest among various scientists across Europe. The active work of SAC members resulted

in publishing detailed position papers, backed up with unprecedented knowledge and data.

An important part of our policy work is are workshops, where the key stakeholders have the chance

to actively exchange their views. This year we have organized two workshops: one on sustainability

of biogas, and the other one on digestate. The increasing number of Brussels based people who

attend these workshops is one of the rewarding results, underlining the increasing importance of

our work in the heart of Europe.

Year 2014 was a year of the EBA biannual conference. This event took place in Egmond aan Zee in

the Netherlands, and we would like to thank all our members, who helped to make it a success.

Around 270 people enjoyed three days of contributions ranging from political talks of the

Commission representatives to scientific and technical contributions on anaerobic digestion and

gasification, held by top-ranked experts.

President’s foreword “The increasing number of Brussels based people who attend

these workshops is one of the rewarding results, underlining the

increasing importance of our work in the heart of Europe.”

5

All these achievements are underlined by a number of documents we

publish for our members, to support their work on national level in

their home countries. This is an important part of our work, and we are

pleased that this part of our website enjoys most visitors.

All these highlights, and much more as you will read in this Annual

Report would not be possible to achieve without an excellent team we

have now in Brussels office. Agata Przadka and Susanna Pflüger (born

Litmanen) kept doing an outstanding job, and were promoted to senior

positions. We also have new faces in our office, namely Nicolas de la

Vega, who joined us for policy work, and Erneszt Kovacs on an intern

position. My thanks also go to the board members, who contribute in

the fields of their expertise, on voluntary basis. It is a pleasure to be a

part of this great team.

Jan Stambasky,

President of European Biogas Association

Mr. Arthur Wellinger, the founder and five

years long president of EBA recieving a

honorary membership from Mr. Jan

Stambasky, the current EBA president

6

“Biogas – the product of an efficient and sustainable use of resources”

In January 2014 the General Assembly approved the

association’s mission and vision “EBA’s strategy for the

biogas industry”.

In a course of 2013 the board worked on a strategy to

increase share of products of anaerobic digestion: biogas,

biomethane and digestate. Specific production targets for

biogas and biomethane were set for the years 2020 and

2030, and key policy areas to be lobbied on the EU level

were identified.

Biogas is a versatile energy source and EBA believes

that the fuel has the potential to contribute with at

least 1.5% to the EU’s primary energy mix and 5% to

the EU’s natural gas consumption (in energy equivalent terms).

There were 1.245 million jobs in renewable energy industry in

Europe in 2013. Biogas industry accounted for 5.5% (REN21)

EBA believes that the overall potential for biogas is at

least 50 billion m3. Thus, by 2030 and with the right

policies in place, the industry could deliver 2% - 4%

of the EU’s electricity needs and take a 15% - 30% share of the methane

market.

2030

2020

Mission and Vision

7

2014 on a timeline January

EVENT: January 15,

Company Advisory

Council meeting,

Nuremberg, DE

PR: January 15, The new

EBA President presents

the latest European

biogas statistics - growth

continuous!

ARTICLE: “Highs and

lows”, Bioenergy Insight

February

March

ARTICLE: “Biogas is

blooming”, Gas World

Magazine

EVENT: March 11,

Scientific Advisory

Council meeting,

Brussels, BE

EVENT: March 11,

European biomethane

workshop, Brussels, BE

PR: March 27,

Biomethane with bright

opportunities towards

the 2030 target

PR: March 31, Scientific

April

ARTICLE: “The use of

Digestate as an Organic

Fertiliser”, EnviroTech

EVENT: April 29,

Sustainability of Biogas,

Brussels, BE

May

June

EVENT: June 27,

Company Advisory

Council meeting, Prague,

CZ

July

PR: July 4, New German

Renewable Energy Act

(EEG) shoots biogas in

Germany

Special Newsletter: May

15, EBA’s special report

on European election

2014

July

August

September

PR: July 4, New German

Renewable Energy Act

(EEG) shoots biogas in

Germany

Advisory Council for

biogas launched

EVENT: September 29 -

30, EBA Biogas

Conference, Egmond aan

Zee, NL

EVENT: September 30,

Scientific Advisory

Commitee meeting,

Egmond aan Zee, NL

EVENT: September 30,

Company Advisory

Commitee meeting,

Egmond aan Zee, NL

October

EVENT: October 1,

Biomoass Gasification

Europe, Alkmaar, NL

PR: October 8, Anaerobic

Digestion and

Gasification can replace

natural gas imports

EVENT: October 15, 2nd

Digestate workshop,

Brussels, BE

ARTICLE: “Can biogas

contribute to Europe’s

energy security?”,

Biogas International

EU: October 23,

Adoption of 2030 cilate

and energy policies

framework, Brussels, BE

PR: October 27, Climate

and energy targets

2030 – no binding RES

requirements for the

Members States is a

threat

ARTICLE: “Biogas

trends”, ZIPmagazine

November

EVENT: November 14,

Company Advisory

Council meeting,

Hannover, DE

EVENT: November 19,

Scientific Advisory

Council meeting,

Freising, DE

ARTICLE: “2nd EBA

Biogas Conference was a

Success”, Biogas Journal

December

PR: Dcember 16, The new

EBA Biogas Report

published - biogas

industry grew and

production increased!

8

Sustainability recommendations for solid and gaseous biomass

and updated GHG default values

Despite the busy European election period in spring 2014, the Member States were finally able

to reach the first reading position on the iLUC proposal under the Greek Presidency. The biggest

point of disagreement, namely the inclusion of sub-target for advanced biofuels, was solved by

incorporating a non-binding 0.5% target in the position. Despite the low ambition, EBA was

pleased with the improvements introduced by the Council: the Annex IX listing the feedstock for

advanced biofuels was extended to non-food crops and source-separated waste, while the

quadruple counting of advanced biofuels was removed and the idea of ”iLUC mitigation” was

introduced, i.e. contributing to the lower iLUC effect through yield increases.

EBA has closely followed the development of the proposal in both institutions being in contact

throughout the year with both MEPs and the Council Presidencies and providing them with an

updated position ahead of the second reading. EBA is looking forward to a more balanced

second reading position from the Parliament which will take a stand on the most crucial

questions and which will not re-open the entire file for discussion again. EBA will certainly

continue advocating a balanced solution for the Directive in 2015 when the negotiations will

likely to be finalised.

Indirect land use change (iLUC) related to biofuels and bioliquids

The European Commission put forward the updated non-binding recommendations for

sustainability of solid and gaseous biomass in 2014. At the same time, the Joint Research

Centre (JRC) published a new report on bioenergy pathways and GHG values. Even though the

recommendations are not legally binding, they are expected to be taken into account when new

national sustainability schemes are designed. Therefore, the document is of high relevance to

the biogas sector. Although EBA had previously seen several leaked versions and contributed to

the GHG report, the content of the recommendations and the JRC report did not include any

notable surprises. The sustainability threshold was however, against all expectations, raised

from the already high figure of 60% to 70%, encouraging Member States to phase out the use of

energy crops. The 70% threshold can however be reached by co-digestion (70% manure and

30% maize). On the positive side, manure credits and a methodology for co-digestion were

finally incorporated as requested by EBA for years already. In 2015, EBA will establish more

regular and formal relations with JRC with a support from its Scientific Advisory Council.

Throughout the year EBA’s policy advisors

constantly keep an eye on European

policies and their developments. Through

a p r om p t r e s p o ns e , ong o ing

communication with its members and

board and regular meetings with

Members of the European Parliament

and respresentatives of the European

Commission EBA ensures that the interest

of the European biogas industry is heard

in Brussels and that both biogas industry

and Europe will benefit from the taken

decisions.

2014 was a very versatile and action

packed year in terms of policy

development as it covered several

legislative proposals and targets.

Key policy focuses

9

2030 package for climate and energy policy

At the beginning of the year, the European Commission put forward its proposal for climate and energy targets beyond 2020. Instead of having

binding, equally strong targets for greenhouse gas emissions’ reduction, renewable energy and energy efficiency as previously for 2020, the

Commission positioned the emissions target as the main pillar of the new climate and energy package by introducing a target of 40% for

greenhouse gas reduction whereas the targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency as rather supplementary. 27% share of renewable

energies at the EU level would probably be reached by 2030 with the business as usual and the energy efficiency target of 30% was proposed

after a long consideration in July. EBA together with other renewable industries’ pled, addressed the importance of nationally binding targets

to the Commission and national policy makers by numerous letters and other means of communication. However, these requests faced

resistance from several Member States that were referring to short-term cost-efficiency. At the European summit in October, the Member

States thus adopted a position pledging only to a single binding target at both EU and national levels: 40% CO2 reduction that will also be

broken down to individual Member States based on their financial situation. To EBA’s big disappointment, the renewables target of 27% will

be binding only at the EU level. Also the energy efficiency target was reduced to 27% and is, similarly to the renewables target only indicative at

national level.

“We still need more projects, a more market-oriented approach and we need to

attribute sustainability bigger importance”

Mr. Arthur Wellinger, on possibilities for better biomethane utilization

10

With its members’ support in February, EBA prepared a response to the Commission’s consultation on the new Guidelines that were extended

to regulate the renewable energies’ support schemes for the first time. Despite the great opposition from stakeholders and concerns expressed

by Member States, DG Competition pushed its proposal through and introduced the Guidelines with only a few softening measures at the end

of June and it entered into force at the beginning of September. To EBA’s and the whole renewable energy industry’s frustration, the Guidelines

asked for phasing out feed-in tariffs that were so far the most powerful tool to pursue energy transition in Europe. Following the populist

arguments referring to the increasing energy costs caused by renewables, the support schemes should become more ‘cost-efficient’. This shall

be achieved when feed-in premiums and market-based green certificates replace feed-in tariffs. Another challenge will be posed by the

technology-neutral bidding processes that shall be introduced as the only way to grant aid for renewables. EBA supports its national member

associations to prompt their governments to take advantage from the existing loopholes and exemptions included in the Guidelines in order to

ensure decarbonisation of the European energy sector by sustainable energy sources.

Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020

Revision of BREF for Waste Treatment Industries

The work on the revision of the BREF which was kicked off in 2013, continued in sub-groups in 2014. EBA is leading the sub-group “anaerobic

digestion” that wrote contributions for chapter 2 (Applied processes and techniques) chapter 4 (Techniques to consider) and chapter 5 (BAT

conclusions) of the overall BREF. The first draft from European IPPC Bureau will be expected at the beginning of 2015.

751 new biogas plants were open in Europe in 2013, an

increase of 5.5%, reaching the total of 14 563

11

Revision of Energy Taxation Directive

After thorough work and numerous working group meetings, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) published its long-awaited technical proposals for

the End-of-Waste criteria for digestate and compost in January. Since then, EBA has met with DG Environment several times calling the

Commission services to establish a Regulation on the criteria. Another, but less preferable possibility would be to incorporate the criteria in the

upcoming Fertiliser Regulation. In early autumn, it was indeed confirmed and communicated by DG Environment to EBA that the End-of-Waste

file had been moved to DG Enterprise who shall work on its inclusion in the Fertiliser Regulation. Unlike anticipated in 2013, the proposal for

the Regulation has not been published in summer and is now postponed to early 2015. EBA actively participated in all three working group

meetings on fertilisers in 2014 and prepared a paper during summer, commenting the essential requirements proposed by DG Enterprise,

ahead of December’s meeting. Together with FEAD, representing the European waste management industry, and the European Compost

Network, EBA wrote a joint paper at the end of the year underlining the importance of organic fertilisers.

Simultaneously, EBA has been pushing for the exemption of digestate from the REACH registration. The REACH Regulation was discussed

among EBA, the Commission services as well as several Member State representatives, after it raised concerns in 2013 when EBA noted to its

astonishment that digestate shall fall under the scope of the registration requirements after the digestate reaches the product status. As EBA’s

request to exempt digestate from the REACH registration, similarly to compost and biogas, has gathered broad support from Member States,

EBA expects the Commission to draft a proposal to amend the Entry 12 of Annex V in the near future.

Since 2011, the Member States have been debating the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive in the Council’s working group. The new

Directive shall introduce an EU-wide CO2 tax as part of the overall taxation. EBA has regularly been in contact with the COREPER working group

members to exchange information about the progress made on one hand and the questions related to biogas on the other. To EBA’s

knowledge, the Member States have finally, after three years of negotiation, been able to broadly agree on a two-tier system where the

minimum taxation rates are based on CO2 and energy components. If the CO2 component would have been removed, the Commission would

have likely withdrawn the whole proposal. Regarding the taxation levels, sustainable biofuels such as biogas shall have a lower minimum

taxation rates and additionally, tax exemptions/reductions will be allowed until 2023. There are however still considerable divergences in

views between the Member States to be solved related to minimum taxation rates and the treatment of EU ETS installations, for example.

Moreover, the compliance of the reduced taxation rates with the new State Aid Guidelines is another outstanding issue to be solved.

Digestate policies

“Biogas can be an important pillar of the European energy policy

in terms of safety and decarbonisation”

Dr. Jan Štambaský, at the EBA Conference 2014

12

An important first reading agreement was reached in April ahead of the European elections by the European Parliament and the Council on the

Directive on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure. Instead of setting EU-wide binding targets for the amount of filling stations, the

EU institutions agreed that Member States will determine such goals in their national plans. The Commission will have a role to ensure that

those plans remain ambitious. Additionally, the Commission shall come up with an action plan by the end of 2018 to further promote the

implementation of alternative fuels’ infrastructure. Biomethane was included in the scope of the new Directive even though the Commission’s

decision to talk exclusively about natural gas (biomethane wass included in the term) had caused some confusion again: EBA was informed

that some Member States had been reluctant to promote natural gas under alternative fuels since it is a fossil fuel. The fact that biomethane

as a renewable fuel profits from the same infrastructure had once again been disregarded. Therefore, EBA has actively, as a member of the

Commission’s expert group on future transport fuels, promoted the separate treatment of biomethane and natural gas in the EU legislation on

alternative fuels. These arguments have however faced some resistance from the fossil gas industry that has stubbornly pursued the uniform

categorisation of gaseous fuels. Three working group meetings took place in 2014 contributing to the report on state of the art of different

alternative fuels which will be published shortly.

Clean power for transport package

The consumption of biomethane in Finland nearly tripled,

with an increase of 168% during the last year. The

upgrading capacities tripled with a number of new filling

stations opened.

13

European Commission’s public consultations

After consulting its members in February, EBA responded to the public consultation on the draft State Aid Guidelines on energy and

environment emphasising the need for flexibility for Member State to tailor their support schemes for renewable energies to fit national

conditions.

Circular Economy package

As eagerly expected, the European Commission laid down in summer a proposal to revise European waste targets and a number of waste-

related Directives including the Waste Framework Directive and the Landfill Directive. The revision package was named Circular Economy The

package aims to establish a system where resources are kept within the economy to be productively used again and again and hence creating

further value. EBA was calling for obligatory separate collection of biowaste for years already and emphasised the role of anaerobic digestion

in circular economy and therefore welcomed the package while raising two remaining issues in a position paper: the categorisation of

anaerobic digestion under the European waste hierarchy and the exemption of manure from the Waste Framework Directive. Anaerobic

digestion should clearly and explicitly be considered as a way of recycling and manure destined for biogas plants should be exempted from the

scope of the Waste Framework Directive in the same way as raw manure if the produced digestate is used as a fertiliser. Over the autumn

months, EBA met with the responsible Commission services, MEPs and Member State representatives to discuss the importance of ambitious

waste targets, the remaining challenges related to manure and waste hierarchy.

“It is essential to shift from natural gas to biomethane, as the use of natural gas

alone will not allow significant reductions of GHG emission”

Mr. Antonio Tricas - Aizpun, European Commission, DG MOVE

1 tonne of artificial fertiliser replaced with digestate saves 1

tonne of oil, 108 tonnes of water and 7 tonnes of CO2 emissions

(Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association)

14

As the umbrella organisation for the

biogas industry in Europe and for the

benefit of its members, as well as

ensuring and comfirming the

sustainability of biogas, EBA has to bring

together both industry and science and

enable close interaction between the two

communities.

Therefore, two advisory councils actively

work alongside everyday activities in

Brussels on providing scientific and

commercial background for EBA’s policy,

communication and project management

activities.

Advisory Councils

30

7

Company Advisory

Council

members

Scientific Advisory

Council

members

The Company Advisory Council (CAC) is a platform representing the European biogas industry

which gives an opportunity for the industry to reflect its views towards the European Union. It

also participates in strengthening EBA’s voice for policy-making. Due to organisational

changes in their companies company, Theo Verleun (DSM), who was a CAC chairman for over

two years, and Emanuel Bregulla (MT-Energie), Deputy Chairman, have resigned from chairing

the Council.

Over the past year, four meetings took place:

15 January – Nuremberg

27 June – Prague

30 September – Egmond aan Zee

14 November - Hannover

The CAC members started the first working group (WG) in mid-2014, which aims at answering

the question “What is needed for sustained feasibility of biogas/biomethane production?”

Results of the WG are expected in 2015.

Company Advisory Council

15

Opes

March 2014 was marked with creation of Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) by scientific

members of EBA. SAC was set up as a network of researchers, scientists and university

teachers dedicated to the promotion of the biogas sector by means of scientific evidence.

Objectives of the Council:

To provide scientific evidence to EBA position papers and public communication

To advise on programme of EBA workshops and conference

To support EBA Board in evaluation of project proposals

To encourage other scientific partners (research institutes, universities) into SAC in order to

increase exchange of experience and information in biogas research.

In 2014 the SAC had two face-to-face meetings and several phone conferences:

11 March – Brussels

30 September – Egmond aan Zee

Scientific Advisory Council

16

Press releases

The new EBA Biogas Report pub-

lished - biogas industry grew and

production increased!

Climate and energy targets 2030

– no binding RES requirements

for the Members States is a

threat

Anaerobic Digestion and Gasifi-

cation can replace natural gas

imports

New German Renewable Energy

Act (EEG) shoots biogas in Ger

many

Scientific Advisory Council for

biogas launched

Biomethane with bright opportu-

nities towards the 2030 target

The new EBA President presents

the latest European biogas sta

tistics - growth continuous!

EBA has paid a lot of attention to

communication activities over the year

which included online visibility,

continuous presence in media, both

online and written, using a whole range of

communication tools all aiming at the

promotion of the network and its

members, as well as biogas as a

sustainable and locally produced fuel in

general. EBA has developed partnerships

with numerous media channels including

Biogas Channel, Biogas Journal and

others.

Intensified social media activity increased

visibility of the association within media

and young professionals.

The total number of Twitter followers /

Facebook fans / LinkedIn members

tripled.

13

14 7

Communication

Press releases

Position papers

Articles

335 185 582

355 1102 3x

Position papers

EBA's position on the Circular

Economy Package

EBA's response to EurActiv's arti-

cle on gas infrastructure

EBA's comments on the essential

requirements of the Fertiliser

Regulation

EBA's position on bio-economy

Sustainability recommendations

on biomass and biogas in elec-

tricity and heating

EBA’s special report on European

Parliament election 2014

Revision of European Ecolabel

Criteria for Soil Improvers and

Growing Media: Summary of the

technical report and EBA com

ments

EBA’s contribution to the Expert

Group meeting on Future

Transport Fuels

EBA summary on State Aid

Guidelines 2014-2020

EBA's discussion paper on End-of

-Waste criteria for digestate

ESBF Position on 2020-2030 EU

energy policy

EBA's response to the consulta-

tion on the draft Guidelines on

environmental and energy State

Aid for 2014-2020

EBA's comments on the revision

of the Fertilisers Regulation

Digestate in the Nitrates Di-

rective

FEAD-ECN-EBA common state-

ment on organic fertilisers

Media Press releases and position papers

2013 2014

17

EBA’s website is continuously updated

with EBA, EU and country specific news, as

well as position papers and press

releases. Pages for the Scientific and

Company Advisory Councils were added.

Main peaks in terms of visits in 2014 were

on dates of press releases and major

events (i.e. The EBA Biogas Conference).

Beginning of the year the EBA newsletter

got a new shape. An HTML form of

electronic newsletter was introduced to

facilitate dissemination and to allow

statistical analysis.

30.670

60%

Visits

New visitors

2.5

pages Per session

Website

Newsletter

2000

31% Subscribers

Opens

Publications Each year EBA prepares new

country profiles with a summary of

on the local biogas market. Profiles

include data on general renewables

situation and targets, and more

specifically on biogas production,

legal support and future prospects.

In 2014 EBA published profiles for

Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia,

The Netherlands and Turkey.

Companies Catalogue and Success Stories

disseminate information on services of the

biogas companies active in international

business and their examples of good

practices. The catalogue includes basic data

about each associated member,

geographical areas of activity and

references while the Success Stories cover

achievements in the biogas industry, like

process optimization, energy efficiency,

feedstock use or increased sustainability. In

2014 EBA had 14 success stories from 8

countries. . Around 800 printed and digital

copies were disseminated in 2014.

EBA published the fourth edition of its biogas report containing

European biogas statistics. It presents the current number of

biogas plants divided by type, installed capacities, electricity

and heat production, and an overview of the biogas support

systems. Publication was developed in cooperation with

national associations and other partners of EBA.

18

5

Per

Opens

Projects

GreenGasGrids was a 3-years long European project funded by the Intelligent Energy for Europe (IEE) with

the aim to boost the European biomethane market. The goal of the project was to create a strategic

approach towards boosting biomethane markets while aiming at increasing biomethane production. Main

actions were:

Support finding solutions to market barriers

Bring together potential business partners

Hands-on know-how transfer to “starter” countries

Promotion of biomethane projects in countries with high potential but few activities.

EBA was leading the Work Package 3 coordinating EU-level Working Groups and Workshops and is

responsible for technical standards and biomethane trade.

10 documents published

www.greengasgrids.eu

EBA together with European Biodiesel Board and European Algae Biomass Association as well as with

technology providers and advanced biofuels producers built a consortium of the European Sustainable

Biofuels Forum (ESBF). ESBF is grouping the European biofuels producers and policy actors under one

single umbrella in order to address common issues and promote the development of alternative fuels. The

project is funded by the European Commission’s tender for three years aiming at:

Building up consensus among the EU biofuels stakeholders creating synergies between conventional

and advanced generations biofuels producers and advanced technology providers

spreading extensive information on the state of play of European biofuels

www.sustainablebiofuelsforum.eu

Duration:

Partners:

Project was successfully finalised in June 2014

The projects’s consortium consisted of 13

European partners, including national energy

agencies, scientific institutions, as well as

industry associations involved in biomethane,

natural gas and renewable energy

19

5

Per

In the summer 2014 association representing renewable ethanol ePURE joined the project consortium. Having all biofuel representatives on

board, project partners discussed deeply biofuel related EU policies: support of biofuels after 2020, indirect Land Use Change and definition

of advanced biofuels. As a result of multiple meetings the ESBF consortium under aegis of EBA published a brochure with facts on biofuel

production and use “Biofuels – sustainable and safe energy for Europe”.

September 2012 – March 2015

EBA, EBB, EABA, ePURE, Chemtex, BDI Bioenergy International, Idea-RE

10 documents published Duration:

Partners:

www.fabbiogas.eu

This project coordinated by IFA-Tulln (Austria) started in April 2013 and runs until October 2016. The

objective is to elaborate a solid information base on FAB (Food and Beverage) waste utilisation for

biogas production and to prove the efficiency and feasibility of FAB waste-based biogas implementation

projects. Key actions include:

EBA will prepare an International Handbook “Biogas production in Food and Beverage Industry” de-

scribing status of biogas production in partner countries, status of R&D projects on this topic, best

practice examples and the most promising FaB industry branches.

Set-up national contact points in FAB associations in all

partner countries

Organise awareness raising events for FAB

Identify potentials for using FAB waste

Compile a complete set of tools and guidelines,

facilitating cooperation between FAB industry, biogas

sector and law makers all over Europe.

Biogas accounted for 8% of total renewable energy gross

inland consumption in 2012 (Eurostat)

20

Press releases

Position papers

Articles

5

Per

(Co-)organised

Subscribers

Opens

Two years after the first conference of

European Biogas Association in

Bratislava, Slovakia, the second

conference in Egmond aan Zee in the

Netherlands saw a doubled audience of

240 participants, as well a one day longer

event. Main topics covered by the

conference were the role of biogas in

Europe’s energy and transportation

policies, substrates, digestate and

biomethane. A special spotlight was on

biomass gasification, having a full day

dedicated to the topic at the Biomass

Gasification Europe (BGE) conference in

Alkmaar. This last day was also dedicated

to the official launch of Institute for

Valorisation and Expertise in

Thermochemics Alkmaar (InVesta). Finally,

the last highlights were two parallel study

tours to biogas and biomethane plants,

and newly opened ECN Energy Research

Centre.

Exhibitors

Co-hosts 2

Events and networking

15

4 15 Media partners

Posters

240 Participants

30 Countries

36 Speakers

10 Sponsors

Participants enjoying their study trips to

biogas plants in Amsterdam and Energy

Research Centre of

Netherlands

The absolute favourite of the event - a

biogas powered 928 Porche parked at the

EBA Biogas Conference venue

270 participants at a 3 days long conference

listening and engaging in high level

presentations and discussions and taking

advantage of networking opportunities

21

14 3

5

5 Exhibited:

45 Attended: Spoke at: Co-organised:

trade fairs events conferences and events

events

The joint workshop highlighted the

work and achievements of the three

biomethane projects (GreenGasGrids,

Biomaster and UrbanBiogas)

coordinated by the Executive Agency

for Small and Medium-sized

Enterprises (EASME) and pointed out

the advantages of biomethane and

current policy and market challenges

to broadly deploy this technology.

150 participants attended the event,

coordinated by EBA

European Biomethane

workshop

Sustainability of biogas

workshop

EBA 2nd digestate

workshop

An international group of

stakeholders gathered to discuss the

sustainability of biogas feedstock and

production. A crucial importance is

that sustainability criteria and the

methodology of greenhouse gas

emission calculation are based on

solid and peer-reviewed data that is

applied for a long-term period

bringing investment security. The EBA

event was attended by nearly 40

participants.

Goals of this event were to discuss

anaerobic digestion’s contribution to

sustainable EU agriculture,

demonstrate possibilities of digestate

as a valuabe bio-fertiliser, promote

the End-of-Waste (EoW) status for

digestate and deliver arguments why

biogas digestate shall not fail under

the REACH regulation after it

achieves the EoW status. The

workshop was attended by around 50

participants.

22

Subscribers

EBA is managed by the Executive

Board and the secretariat. At the

General Assembly of 2014,

Arthur Wellinger announced his

resignation from the position of

EBA’s president and

participation in executive board.

Following this decision, a new

president and one new executive

member were selected to join

the Board: Jan Stambasky from

Czech Republic as a new

president and David Collins from

the UK as an executive member.

Thus, the following members

formed the Board in 2014.

The EBA’s secretariat in Brussels

is run by Agata Prządka

(Technical Advisor) and Susanna

Pflüger (Senior Policy Advisor),

who deal with the association’s

day-to-day business and execute

tasks delegated by the Executive

Board and Secretary General.

Since September the Brussels

office is supported by Nicolas de

la Vega (Policy Advisor) and

Erneszt Kovacs (Assistant to the

Technical Advisor, trainee). The

Secretariats’ tasks are

coordinated by Sebastian Stolpp

(Secretary General). From

January to July 2014, Maria

Cacenschi supported the

Secretariat as a Communication

and Administration trainee.

Organisational structure President

Jan Stambasky,

Czech Biogas Association

Vice President

Harm Gröbrugge,

German Biogas Association

Board member

David Collins,

Renewable Energy

Association, UK

Vice President

Franz Kirchmeyer,

Austrian Compost and

Biogas Association

Board member

Attila Kovács,

Hungarian Biogas

Association

Board member

Göran Strandberg,

Swedish Gas Association

Board member

Stefano Bozzetto,

Italian Biogas Association

Chair of the Scientific

Advisory Committee

Erik Meers,

Biogas-E

Vice-Chair of the Company

Advisory Committee

Leon Stille,

TNO

Executive Board

Senior policy advisor

Susanna Pflüger

Technical advisor

Agata Prządka

Policy advisor

Nicolas de la Vega

Assistant to the technical

advisor

Erneszt Kovács

Secretariat

23

Partnerships and memberships

In 2014, EBA continued to be a member of

EREF (European Renewable Energies

Federation) and AEBIOM (European

Biomass Association). As of 2014 EBA

was also welcomed as a member at

EUFORES (The European Forum for

Renewable Energy Sources). Further, the

association continued its collaboration

with the European Compost Network (ECN)

with regards to digestate and animal by-

products issues and with NGVA Europe

(Natural Gas Vehicle Association) to

establish common European biomethane

standards and campaign together for

increasing the use of biogas as a vehicle

fuel. After the numerous meetings with

natural gas associations EBA established

a network with GIE (Gas Infrastructure

Europe), Eurogas and Marcogaz (Technical

Association of the European Gas industry).

There are two types of the membership at

EBA: FULL members - national or regional

biogas associations and ASSOCIATED

members - companies, universities,

research institutes, public authorities and

individuals.

Member of:

Partnership with:

Partnerships

EBA membership

37

32 Full members

Countries

New members in 2014

26

Associate members

24

ARGE Kompost & Biogas

www.kompost-biogas.at

ValBiom - Wallonian Biogas Asscoiation

www.valbiom.be

EDORA - Federation of renewable energies

www.edora.be

Biogas-E - Anaerobic Digestion platform for

Flanders

www.biogas-e.be

CzBA - Czech Biogas Association

www.czba.cz

Brancheforeningen for Biogas

www.biogasbranchen.dk

MTÜ - Estonian Biogas Association

eba.eestibiogaas.ee

Suomen Biokaasuyhdistys

www.biokaasuyhdistys.net

AAMF - Association of Biogas Farmers of France

www.pardessuslahaie.net

Full members ATEE Club Biogaz

www.atee.fr/biogaz

METHEOR - Assocation for the Eological Anaerobic Digestion of

Waste

www.metheor.org

Fachverband Biogas

www.biogas.org

FNNB - Society for the promotion of sustainable biogas and

bioenergy

www.fnbb.de

HEL.BI.O - Hellenic Biogas Association

www.helbio.gr

Magyar Biogáz Egyesület

www.biogas.hu

CRE - Composting and Anaerobic Digestion Association of

Ireland

www.cre.ie

IrBEA - Irish Biomass Association

www.irbea.ie

Consorzio Italiano Biogas

www.consorziobiogas.it

25

Latvijas Bigazes Asociacija

latvijasbiogaze.lv

Bioduju Asociacija

www.lbda.lt

Biogasvereenegung

www.biogasvereenegung.lu

VGGP - Association of Green Gas Producers

www.vggp.nl

PIGEO - Polish Economic Chamber of Renewable

Energy

www.pigeo.org.pl

ARBIO - Romanian Association of Biomass and

Biogas

www.arbio.ro

Udruženje Biogas Srbija

www.biogas.org.rs

AVEOZ - Association of producers of renewable

energies

www.aveoz.sk

Biogas section of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry

of Food and Agriculture

www.gzs.si/slo/panoge/

zbornica_kmetijskih_in_zivilskih_podjetij

AEBIG - Spanish Biogas Association

www.aebig.org

Energigas Sverige

www.energigas.se

Biomasse Schweiz

www.biomasseschweiz.ch

ADBA - The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources

Association

www.adbiogas.co.uk

REA Biogas Group - UK Renewable Energy Association

www.r-e-a.net

26

Associate members

27

28

European Biogas Association, January 2015

Photos: BTS Biogas, Schmack Biogas GmbH, Suomen Biokaasuyhdistys, EBA

Design: European Biogas Association