Biomethane Supporting Singapore’s Journey to Decarbonisation: Insights from Prof Zhou Yan
Biomethane is emerging as one of the latest low-carbon fuels as Singapore seeks to reduce emissions from its power sector, according to The Straits Times.
The fuel can be sourced internationally, including Brazil and India. Professor Zhou Yan from NTU School of Civil and Environmental Engineering shared that South-east Asia also has high biomethane potential due to its large agricultural industry, particularly palm oil, rice, livestock and food processing.
For example, Malaysia and Indonesia have huge palm oil industries and palm oil waste, which is a good source of biomethane, she added. Methane gas is released during the processing of wastewater from palm oil production, among other sources, so the fuel only needs to be captured.
Industries that stand to benefit from this include petrochemical and refining, food manufacturing, semiconductors and electronics, as well as pharmaceuticals. Biomethane can be used in existing infrastructure and it can help to cut emissions in industries that use large amounts of natural gas for high-temperature processes, said Prof Zhou.
The challenges using biomethane include cost, among others. For example, the collection and preparation of raw materials for biomethane are costly because they can be logistically complex and require a lot of resources, said Prof Zhou. Existing biomethane upgrading technologies also contribute significantly to overall costs as they remain technologically advanced and expensive to deploy, she added.
