On 25 September 2025, the European Biogas Association (EBA) launched a white paper detailing the state of the art for biogenic CO2 from biogas processes, and hurdles to overcome. This follows from their 2022 publication on the topic.
The current edition provides further context, including numbers surrounding potential production, as well as discussion of developments over the last three years, including the EC working document on 2040 climate targets in which carbon capture projections were put forward.
To date, 125 biomethane plants capture biogenic CO2 (bioCO2) as of 2025, with 70% of these operations utilising membrane separation technology. The 125 plants have an annual capacity of 1.2 Mt, with the UK leading the way (22% of the currently captured volume). Demand in Europe for CO2 was approximately 14 Mt in 2024, with most usage in the food and beverage sector.
The cost of capturing bioCO2 from biogas upgrading is relatively competitive – the IEA notes that upgrading has the lowest levelised cost of capture (LCOC), particularly compared to direct air capture (DAC), another recognised negative-emission technology.
The EBA’s cost database showed LCOCs between EUR 40-105/t, with an average of EUR 90/t for smaller (<5000 t/yr) plants and EUR 60/t for larger plants (>10,000 t/yr).
However, transport costs escalate rapidly with biogas sites at a significant disadvantage due to smaller economies of scale. As a result, most merchant CO2 demand in Europe is satisfied by larger scale ammonia/fertiliser production, where CO2 is a byproduct of steam methane reforming (SMR) of fossil natural gas.
Nevertheless, there is some uptake for bioCO2 from biogas. In the UK, food grade CO2 is typically sourced from bioethanol production facilities, CO2 being a byproduct of fermentation. However, a recent changes in trade conditions have made domestic bioethanol production untenable and as a result, supply of CO2 in the UK will be tightened. Biogas upgrading can help fill the CO2 supply gap, with the recently announced Acorn Bioenergy deal with BUSE Gases being an example of this.
According to the EC’s climate documents, captured CO2 demand is set to rise rapidly by 2040 to 344 MtCO2 per year for both storage (sequestration) and usage. The EC earmarks two-thirds of the 2040 demand for sequestration (carbon removals via CCS), with e-fuels responsible for the bulk of the remaining demand.
While DAC is projected to be the dominant capture solution beyond 2040, lower cost bioCO2 capture will be an important transition technology. This is highlighted by Veyt’s own modelling on capture and storage prices.
Both DACCS and bioCCS are currently prohibitively expensive, although the latter achieves parity with European EUA pricing soon after 2030. This also agrees with recent investment decisions; the results of the first competitive tender round under Denmark’s Negative Emissions Carbon Capture and Storage (NECCS) programme, announced April 2024 in which all three awarded projects were bioCCS related.
The EC foresees 4 Mt of carbon capture in 2040 coming from the upgrading of biogas. However, this figure still underestimates the potential of bioCO2 from biogas upgrading; the REPowerEU target for biomethane, coupled with 50% CO2 capture results in 23 Mt bioCO2 capture by 2030, which is more than five times the EC estimate for the same period.
The biogas processes the EBA identified as being suitable for bioCO2 capture include anaerobic digestion (the dominant biogas production technology), gasification, flue gas CHP and bio-hydrogen (SMR of biomethane), the latter not previously included in the 2022 EBA report.
Most of the applications for bioCO2 are common with DAC and were previously covered in the 2022 EBA report. One recently identified application is e-methane production, where the natural synergies with biomethane production (common infrastructure) make this a more relevant application for bioCO2 from biogas upgrading than DAC, or even other sources of bioCO2.
Future development of infrastructure, currently designed around large fossil-based emitters rather than smaller scale biogas producers, can help overcome logistics and market barriers. Establishing regulation and certification around biogenic CO2 claims would aid in establishing green premiums, further promoting the business case for biogas upgrading.
Given the current climate of regulatory uncertainty, the EBA proposed three main actions:
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