Source: energate

Janet Hochi, managing director of the Biogas Council, hopes for impulses at the national and EU levels concerning the further development of the biomethane sector in 2023.

energate: Ms Hochi, what is the mood in your association when looking forward to 2023?

Hochi: We are looking forward to 2023 with great expectations and hope for important political impulses at the national and European levels for a positive further development of the biomethane industry. The strategic course for a sustainable renewable, reliable and resilient energy supply must be set politically this year, otherwise it will be almost impossible to achieve the climate protection goals in 2030. Our political to-do list is long, and the focus is on a consistent energy policy that promotes investments in renewable energies in a technology-neutral way, creates future-proof perspectives and gives market players planning security and room to manoeuvre.

energate: Do you anticipate bottlenecks in the energy supply and/or blackouts in the current year?

Hochi: Based on the statements of the BMWK and the Federal Network Agency, we currently don't see any bottlenecks in energy supply this year. Furthermore, the potential of energy generation from biomethane and biogas as flexible, secure and multifunctional energy sources, which can make an essential contribution to the security of energy supply, has not yet been fully exploited. We see a need for further short-term political action here.

energate: Which projects in the field of energy policy should the German government definitely tackle this year?

Hochi: We see many projects in energy policy that the federal government must start, continue or bring to a successful conclusion this year. Priorities for us are the simplification and harmonisation of licensing requirements for an accelerated realisation of biogas and biomethane projects, the ideology-free further development of the greenhouse gas reduction quota in the transport sector and the amendment of the Building Energy Act. At the European level, we would like to see the German government play an active and above all constructive role in the trilogue negotiations on the design of RED III and in the concrete implementation of the REPowerEU plan, which sets a Europe-wide production target of 35 billion standard cubic metres of biomethane for 2030.

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