Biogas as a Source of Energy and Chemicals

Abstract

The global economic development in the twentieth century has led to extensive use of fossils, such as oil, natural gas, and coal as fuels and chemical feedstocks. This extensive use of fossil fuels has led to enormous emissions of carbon dioxide as final product of combustion. The high absorption rate of infra-red rays by carbon dioxide has led to the so-called “greenhouse” effect. Nowadays, the renewable energy sources based on biomass have become very important with a trend to replace oil consumption at least partially and hence to remediate the emissions of greenhouse gases in atmosphere. Biofuels could be used as alternative raw material for chemical production. One of these biofuels is biogas released at anaerobic digestion of different natural organic waste. Another feature of biogas applications is its utilization as feedstock for the production of synthetic fuels and chemicals being now produced from oil and coal. A new approach is to use biogas as a fuel in fuel cells as a very promising option for energy production from renewable sources. The present review summarizes the applications of biogas for chemicals, starting with dry reforming and Fischer-Tropsch syntheses and as a source of energy, as heat and electricity production by co-generation and fuel cells.