Finding new ways to develop and exploit biogas
A range of partners from three neighbouring regions in Scandinavia came together to develop and accelerate the use of biogas as an alternative fuel source for transport and heating. Their aim was to demonstrate that biogas provides sustainable solutions when it comes to creating a green economy and combating climate change.
Additional tools
" What is being done in Skive is ambitious and progressive. They have taken a strategic decision and said to themselves “we want to be good at this”. Out of this they have assembled a cluster of competencies. And when various players working with gas are brought together- via a project like Implement – each one is strengthened as a result. "
Implement was a collaboration between nine municipalities based in Denmark’s Midtjylland region, Västsverige in Sweden and Sør-Østlandet in Norway. They were joined in the venture by organisations with a vast amount of experience in the biogas sector, including established producers, local authorities with an understanding of planning issues and research bodies that have introduced innovation to the industry. The project pooled experience to improve the uptake of biogas across the region.
Biogas and transport
In Denmark, the partners were particularly interested in finding out how biogas could be used in the transport sector. From March 2015, some 50 of the municipality’s cars were switched over to biogas; the longer-term goal is to ensure that 200 cars are running on the fuel within 6 years. Skive also plans to fuel all its buses with biogas from the summer of 2016 onwards. In addition, Denmark’s first public biogas filling station has been opened in the area.
Also in Denmark, biogas is now being used to power a ferry in the municipality of Samsoe, and investments have been made in Lemvig to increase biogas production. In the Norwegian municipality of Østfold, biogas is being used to fuel a fleet of 100 buses, while a new business model for the use of biogas has been developed in Rogaland. Meanwhile in Sweden, biogas has been introduced to the locality of Brålanda and the west of the country is working to use the fuel in its tourism sector.
Sharing expert knowledge
Implement has created a search engine to help the project partners and others find reports relating to biogas. It has also developed a web tool which addresses planning issues surrounding the construction of biogas plants – the goal being to assist in securing better and quicker planning decisions.
All the partners say that they have gained a great deal of knowledge about issues relating to biogas thanks to this cross-border collaboration and have decided to continue to work together, despite the project coming to an end in 2014.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Implement” is EUR 2 139 671, of which the EU’s European Regional Development Fund is contributing EUR 1 069 835 from the Operational Programme “Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak” for the 2007 to 2013 programming period.