Decarbonisation Technology August 2026 Issue

pathway for reducing transport emissions without requiring extensive infrastructure investments (EBA, 2024) . Compared with hydrogen, biomethane offers a distinct near-term deployment advantage. While hydrogen is expected to play a crucial role in long-term decarbonisation strategies, its large- scale adoption often requires modifications to pipelines, storage systems, industrial equipment, and refuelling infrastructure. Biomethane, by contrast, can leverage existing gas infrastructure with minimal adaptation, reducing technical risks and investment requirements (Gotz, et al., 2016) . The high degree of infrastructure compatibility associated with biomethane significantly lowers deployment barriers and facilitates market integration across the energy, industrial, and transport sectors. This capability positions biomethane as an immediately deployable renewable gas solution capable of supporting energy security and decarbonisation objectives simultaneously. Can biomethane reach impactful scale? Derived from organic waste via circular practices, biomethane is increasingly emerging as a renewable gas for decarbonising hard- to-abate sectors where direct electrification is impractical. It serves as a chemically identical replacement for conventional natural gas. However, its primary challenge lies in scalability: can it evolve from a niche solution into a globally significant energy resource? According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global sustainable feedstock base for biogas and biomethane could support production of close to 1 trillion cubic metres annually under sustainability constraints (IEA, 2025a) . This represents approximately 25% of current global natural gas demand, underscoring that biomethane is not resource- limited at a global level but rather constrained by system readiness, economics, and policy design. Similarly, in their analysis of global gas decarbonisation pathways, McKinsey & Co suggests biomethane could supply 5-15% of global gas demand in cost-optimised regional systems where feedstock density, logistics, and infrastructure are aligned (McKinsey &

Company, 2026) . This reinforces the view that biomethane’s role is inherently regional rather than uniformly global. Regional scaling dynamics Europe is transitioning biomethane production from early deployment to a major industrial scale. Under the REPowerEU strategy, the European Commission aims for 35 billion cubic metres (bcm) by 2030 to substitute gas imports and defossilise heavy industry. Europe’s combined biogas and biomethane production has reached 22 bcm, covering roughly 6% of the EU’s natural gas consumption (EBA, 2026) . Biomethane remains the fastest-growing sector, yielding 5.2 bcm of output from 1,620 specialised facilities. Backed by grid injection protocols (with 86% of facilities connected to the grid) and €28.4 billion in committed private investments, expansion is accelerating across 25 European nations, led by France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, and the UK. “ Derived from organic waste via circular practices, biomethane is increasingly emerging as a renewable gas for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors where direct electrification is impractical ” In the US, renewable natural gas (RNG) expansion is propelled by market-based carbon credit frameworks. Landfill gas and agricultural digesters serve as the primary supply channels. However, nationwide deployment remains constrained by complex permitting, regulatory fragmentation, and utility grid interconnection delays. Since demand from transport and industry is growing faster than new production capacity, the market presents significant structural upside. The IEA reports that China’s green gas sector is transitioning from fragmented rural digesters toward centralised, industrial-scale facilities (IEA, 2025b) . The report forecasts a 23% expansion in aggregate biogas production through 2030, with high-purity biomethane output surging by 80%. Crucially, these large- scale operations are progressively mitigating historical feedstock and grid bottlenecks,