Finland: CBG reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 98 %
The GHG intensity of biogas used in compressed form (CBG) in transport in Finland in 2013 was 2 gCO2eq/MJ. It is 98 % less than the GHG intensity of gasoline.
The Fuel Quality Directive (98/70/EC) of the European Union requires 6-10 % reduction of greenhouse gas intensity of average fuels used in road and non-road vehicles (including mobile machinery) and inland waterway vessels by 2020 compared to 2010 level in each Member State.
The greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity for fuels and energy is expressed in terms of grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per Mega Joule of fuel [gCO2eq/MJ]. The GHGs taken into account are carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). The GHG intensity varies within any fuel depending on production pathways; for many fuels differences between pathways are very large. Therefore EU wide or national averages are used. In 2010 the EU average GHG intensity for conventional gasoline was 93.2 gCO2eq/MJ and for CNG from conventional natural gas it was 69.3 gCO2eq/MJ.
In 2013 in Finland the GHG intensity of biogas (CBG) was 2 gCO2eq/MJ, which is 98 % less than gasoline and 97 % less than CNG. This is the result of an analysis published by the Finnish Biogas Association on 20 October (in Finnish). It is based on the national biogas statistics released on 30 September. The result is the average of GHG intensities of biogas production pathways weighted by the share of each pathway in the biogas sold for vehicles. The GHG intensities were taken from the WTW results of the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission, published in April 2014. Sewage treatment based biogas is an exemption; since it is not included in the JRC analysis, Swedish value was used for it. For dung, avoided methane emissions are taken into account in the JRC value.
Source: CBG100 Suomi
