Molecules
Methane & Biomethane CH₄
The only low-carbon molecule with a complete global distribution network already in place. Its supply, not its market, is the constraint.
The molecule with the network already built
What it is
Methane is the principal component of natural gas. Biomethane is produced by upgrading biogas from anaerobic digestion of organic material; synthetic or e-methane is produced by reacting hydrogen with CO2. Both are chemically interchangeable with fossil natural gas, which means they can use existing pipelines, storage, LNG infrastructure and end-use equipment without modification.
How it is produced
Anaerobic digestion and upgrading
Organic feedstock — agricultural residues, food waste, wastewater sludge, manure — digested to biogas, then upgraded by removing CO2 to reach pipeline specification. Commercially mature and widely deployed.
Methanation of hydrogen and CO2
Reacting electrolytic hydrogen with captured CO2 to produce synthetic methane. Adds a conversion step and its losses, but produces a fully drop-in molecule.
Thermal gasification of biomass
Gasifying woody or dry biomass and methanating the resulting syngas. Less widely deployed than digestion and suited to different feedstocks.
Conversion
Methane is the dominant industrial feedstock for hydrogen production by reforming, and a feedstock for methanol and other chemicals. Using low-carbon methane to make hydrogen is thermodynamically circular if the methane was itself made from hydrogen, so that route only makes sense where the pipeline network is doing the transport work.
Storage
Existing natural gas storage in its entirety — depleted fields, salt caverns, pipeline linepack, and LNG tanks. This is the single largest practical advantage the molecule holds over every other low-carbon energy carrier.
Transport
Existing gas grids, LNG shipping and trucking, with no modification required. A biomethane producer injecting into the grid reaches every connected customer immediately, which is a commercial position no hydrogen producer currently has.
Infrastructure
For biomethane: feedstock logistics, digester, upgrading plant and a grid connection or liquefaction. For synthetic methane: hydrogen supply, a CO2 source and a methanation unit. Downstream infrastructure already exists in both cases.
Economics
Biomethane economics are dominated by feedstock cost and availability, plant scale and the value of any waste-treatment gate fee — which can be decisive. Synthetic methane carries the full cost of hydrogen plus CO2 plus methanation losses, making it expensive relative to its alternatives and generally justified only where the drop-in property or existing network access is worth the premium.
Applications
- Drop-in replacement for natural gas in industry, heat and power
- Transport fuel as compressed or liquefied gas, particularly heavy road and shipping
- Chemical and hydrogen feedstock via reforming
- Grid injection, reaching all connected demand without new infrastructure
Commercial challenges
- Sustainable feedstock supply is genuinely limited and geographically dispersed
- Small project scale raises unit costs and transaction costs
- Synthetic methane is expensive relative to alternatives
- Methane leakage across the chain can erode the climate benefit substantially
- Certification of biogenic origin and additionality varies between markets
Questions
Is biomethane the same as biogas?
No. Biogas is the raw output of anaerobic digestion, typically 50–65% methane with most of the balance CO2. Biomethane is biogas upgraded to near-pure methane so it meets pipeline or vehicle-fuel specification and becomes interchangeable with natural gas.
Why bother with synthetic methane when hydrogen exists?
Because the distribution network, storage and end-use equipment already exist. Where the cost of building hydrogen infrastructure exceeds the conversion losses of making methane, the drop-in molecule wins on delivered economics even though it is less efficient.
What limits biomethane?
Feedstock. Sustainable organic feedstock is finite, dispersed and competed for by other uses, which caps total volume and keeps individual projects small. It is a valuable and structurally limited resource rather than a scalable answer to bulk energy demand.
Where methane & biomethane matters
How we can help
Techno-Economic Analysis
Levelised cost modelling with the assumptions exposed and the sensitivities tested.
Read more →Market Analysis
Who is buying, who is selling, at what price, along which corridors — and where that leaves you.
Read more →Carbon & Lifecycle
What a pathway actually emits, consumes and requires — measured, not asserted.
Read more →Working with methane & biomethane?
Whether you produce it, buy it, build for it or are deciding whether it fits your region, the starting point is the same conversation.