Study on Feasibility Biomethane as a Transport Fuel in Korea

국내 바이오메탄의 차량 연료화 타당성 연구

Biogas production and utilisation is an emerging alternative energy technology. Biogas is produced from the biological breakdown of organic matter through anaerobic digestion. Biogas can be utilized for various energy services such as heating, electricity generation and vehicle fuel. Especially, to be utilized as vehicle fuel, raw biogas needs to be upgraded, that is, mainly the removal of carbon dioxide to increase the methane content, up to more than 95% in some cases, similar to the composition of fossil-based natural gas. Biogas fuelled vehicles can reduce $CO_2$ emission by between 75% and 200% compared with fossil fuels. Biomethane development is largely driven by national initiative and predominately by concerns for national air pollution and waste management. Recently, biogas projects for vehicle fuels by some companies are ongoing and Korea government also announced investment to develop biogas as a transport fuel. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the feasibility of biomethane as a transport fuel in Korea. In this study, we investigated quality characteristics, quality standard and upgrading technology to use vehicle fuel of transport sector in Korea.