Biomethane

A sustainable alternative to fossil gas, biomethane can be used within the existing infrastructure and gas appliances. As it can be stored, distributed and used according to demand, biomethane can play a significant role towards achieving the EU’s clean energy objectives. It can also be used to further diversify the EU’s gas supplies, phasing out Europe’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels and reducing the exposure of consumers to volatile natural gas prices.

For these reasons, there is a clear need to scale-up biomethane by 2030, as outlined in the REPowerEU Plan of 18 May 2022. As a renewable and dispatchable energy source, increasing the production and use of biomethane also helps to address the climate crisis. The EU's biomethane production, either as biogas or its upgraded version, needs to reach 35 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year by 2030 and the estimated investment need for the period amounts to €37 billion.

Both biogas and biomethane are often subject to persistent myths and misunderstandings. Therefore, the Commission published a news article in October 2025, listing the 5 key things you need to know about biogas and biomethane. 

Key actions on biomethane 

To reach this ambitious target, the Commission presented in May 2022, a Staff Working Document, accompanying the REPowerEU plan, that outlines a number of actions which could be taken to unlock the potential of biogas and biomethane across the EU.

The proposed actions aim at expanding the production of biogas to a sustainable volume which can be upgraded into biomethane and promoting biomethane production from waste and residues, rather than from food and feedstocks, which can lead to land use change related issues. These actions should also facilitate the sustainable upgrading and safe injection of biomethane into the gas grid.

By 2024, under the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), EU countries will have to collect organic waste separately. This offers an opportunity to scale-up the production of sustainable biomethane and create income opportunities for farmers and foresters.

From the Biomethane Industrial Partnership to a biogas tripartite contract

The REPowerEU Roadmap of May 2025 towards ending Russian energy imports, updated the actions to be taken on both biogas and its upgraded version, biomethane. 

The Biomethane Industrial Partnership (BIP) was launched on 28 September 2022 with an aim to support the achievement of the EU’s 2030 target of 35 bcm annual production and use of sustainable biomethane and to create the conditions for a further ramp-up of its potential by 2050.

Based on the experience of AggregateEU, the Commission is evaluating the feasibility of a platform to support the scale-up and trade of gaseous molecules of non-fossil origin, including biomethane. Building on the successful conclusion of the Biomethane Industrial Partnership, the Commission will set up a new biogas network of EU countries as part of a tripartite contract to better address the diverging needs in different areas of the EU and include national and local stakeholders.

The biogas tripartite will continue to focus on increasing domestic production of sustainable biogas, reducing the cost of biogas valorising both for digestate and biogenic CO₂ and simplifying rules to accelerate permitting.

Further information on the valuable deliverables of the Biomethane Industrial Partnership are available to download. 

The Commission continues to work closely with EU countries to support them in their development of national strategies on biomethane production and to promote cooperation on biomethane with neighbouring countries, including Ukraine.

Accelerate investments 

The revised Renewable Energy Directive broadens the scope of the fuel supply obligation to cover all uses of biomethane and the Commission's recommendation on permitting for renewable energy projects should also accelerate new biogas and biomethane investments. 

Reduce costs linked to production

Incentives for upgrading biogas into biomethane would help reduce the costs linked to biomethane production for individual companies.

Assess challenges in the infrastructure

Another proposed action includes the assessment of infrastructure challenges and bottlenecks potentially standing in the way of achieving a cost-efficient deployment of biomethane.

Moreover, national authorities should assess potential investment challenges to increasing the uptake of biomethane and connecting decentralised production sites with consumers over large distances.

Biomethane country fiches

In the framework of Task Force 1 of the Biomethane Industrial Partnership, the Commission prepared biomethane country fiches for 24 EU country to assess the current level of biogas and biomethane production with sustainable biomethane potential, compared to the share of their 2021 natural gas imports. The fiches also contain specific key messages for each of those EU countries.

Countries that have a national biomethane production potential which is less than 0.05 bcm call for case-specific project design to produce economically viable quantities of biomethane in a sustainable way. For this reason, the Commission  decided not to prepare a specific country fiche for Cyprus, Malta and Luxemburg.

The fiches are published to encourage and support further cooperation between EU countries and/or industry stakeholders, also in the light of the ongoing process to update the National Energy and Climate Plans.

The target of 35 bcm per year of biomethane production by 2030 can only be achieved if we act together.

Country fiches 2023

Innovation and financing

The uptake of biomethane involves the continued support of innovative technologies for the sustainable upgrade of biogas to biomethane and its integration into the gas network.

This will include streamlining existing funds and funding mechanisms, such as the common agricultural policy, structural and cohesion funds, national resilience and recovery plans, Horizon Europe, the innovation fund, the modernisation fund, LIFE funding, as well as national funding opportunities.

Documents