Although biogas is widely considered to be an emerging alternative energy technology the truth is that it has been used for centuries as a fuel source. However like most of the older fuel sources biogas got pushed to the side when fossil fuels became widely used since they were so cheap and easy to use. As the need to find alternatives to fossil fuels becomes more pressing there has been a renewed interest in biogas. There are a lot of people who think that biogas may be the best option available when it comes to alternative fuels. The main reason for this is that the use of biogas doesn’t require a large investment in new infrastructure.

Biogas is any fuel that is made from the breakdown of organic material, usually in the absence of oxygen. Far and away the most widely used biogas is methane. Basically this is a gas that is made from cow manure. The obvious advantage of this is that it is a renewable resource since there will almost certainly always be a supply of manure. In fact biogas may actually help to solve a number of problems. Not only is it a fuel source but the hope is that we will be able to make it out of sewage. This not only solves the need for energy but it also solves the problem of sewage disposal. Even if we just stick to making biogas out of cow manure we are solving a problem since manure is a major producer of greenhouse gases.

Despite all of its benefits there are a few issues that have so far prevented biogas from becoming a major energy source. The biggest problem is that biogas doesn’t store or transport well. A great deal of energy is lost in transporting the biogas. The result is that most uses of biogas have tended to be for facilities that are located near to where the fuel is being produced. Biogas is ideal for power plants that can produce the biogas on site and then use it to power their generators. Where biogas doesn’t work so well is in powering things like cars or replacing natural gas for the heating of homes.

The other problem is in finding enough waste to make biogas out of. It may come as surprise but we don’t actually produce enough sewage and cows don’t produce enough manure for biogas to become our major power source. Certainly we can increase the amount that we use and it will certainly reduce our dependence on other sources of energy but it will always be a supporting player. The problem is that it takes a lot of waste to produce biogas. Since the idea that we should produce more waste isn’t likely to go over well the amount of biogas available will probably always be limited. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a future for biogas just that it needs to be considered as part of an overall energy plan.