SUPPORTED BY
CONTENTS
Executive Summary
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Pillar 1: International and National Policy
Pillar 2: Feedstock Policy
Pillar 3: Biogas Utilisation
Pillar 4: Digestate Policy
Pillar 5: Gas Quality Regulations
Pillar 6: Technical and Operational Standards
Pillar 7: Regulation
Pillar 8: Planning Policy
Pillar 9: Health, Safety and Environment Protection Regulation
Notice: This website will continue to undergo improvements through April 2025. If you have any comments on the Global Biogas Regulatory Framework, please contact WBA at mbh.contact@worldbiogasassociation.org.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Reducing human-induced methane emissions is one of the most cost-effective strategies for tackling global warming. It plays a crucial role in international efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C. Although the past decade has seen the highest temperatures recorded, and the threshold of 1.5°C was exceeded for the first time in 2024, the objectives of the Paris Agreement can still be met, but only with very stringent emissions reductions during this decade leading up to 2030, and by achieving net zero CO2 emissions globally by 2050.
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is recognised as the most readily available targeted measure to address methane emissions that can have an immediate impact. The biogas industry can help mitigate methane and other greenhouse gas emissions arising from energy production, livestock and manure management, agricultural soils, crop burning, deforestation, landfills, wastewater, and energy use. Reducing methane emissions from organic waste, manure, and landfills is central to the mission of the biogas industry. Analyses by the World Biogas Association (WBA) indicate that the biogas sector has the potential to mitigate 10-13% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 50% of the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30% by 2030 while also contributing to 9 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Climate change mitigation is just one area in which the biogas industry operates. By utilising organic waste as feedstocks, biogas helps to prevent pollution of the air, water, and soil; by creating a new generation of fertilising products, it aids in enhancing agricultural production; and by supplying renewable energy, it contributes to energy independence in regions and nations where energy supplies, such as in rural areas, can be erratic or reliant on imported fossil fuels. In addition, it promotes improved waste management, sanitation, health, quality of life, sustainable agriculture, local and renewable energy production, and a circular economy.
To accelerate progress and drive meaningful change, WBA launched the pioneering flagship #MakingBiogasHappen (MBH) programme in 2024. This initiative is designed to fast-track biogas adoption, eliminate barriers to the industry’s growth, and empower governments and regulators to implement anaerobic digestion widely. By converting organic waste into biogas and capturing methane emissions, the programme aims to transform waste into a valuable energy resource while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Launched in January 2024, the MBH Programme was primarily funded by the Global Methane Hub, with additional support from Total Energies and GHD consultancy. This initiative consolidated best practices from around the globe, offering adaptable models for specific deployment. Two significant achievements of the programme were the development of a Global Biogas Regulatory Framework (GBRF), and the establishment of the world’s first global certification scheme dedicated solely to biogas plants.
The primary objective of the GBRF is to develop a comprehensive set of regulations and policies that standardise, monitor, and scale up the biogas industry globally. The framework provides best-practice examples and regulatory mechanisms that governments and regulators can adopt worldwide to ensure the effective implementation of AD technologies.
The GBRF proposes common standards related to the quality of outputs, specifically biogas, biomethane, bio-CO2, and digestate, as well as operating conditions, health, and safety. This template is available to policymakers in every country, with the aim of dramatically reducing the many years usually required to develop such regulatory frameworks.
Effective and standardised regulatory frameworks are expected to also lead to the more efficient, effective, and rapid rollout of infrastructure, including reduced prices, improved quality, better environmental standards, increased investor/government and stakeholder confidence, and significantly reduced lead times for AD planning, building, and construction.
The GBRF comprises nine pillars, which are as follows:
Pillar 1: International and National Policies
Pillar 2: Feedstock Policy
Pillar 3: Biogas Utilisation
Pillar 4: Digestate Policy
Pillar 5: Gas Quality Regulations
Pillar 6: Technical and Operational Standards
Pillar 7: Environmental Regulation and Permitting
Pillar 8: Planning Policy
Pillar 9: Health, Safety and Environmental Protection Regulation
Key Recommendations
A brief overview of the key recommendations made under the Global Biogas regulatory Framework is as follows:
1. Set national biogas production targets supported by sector targets: Governments must undertake a detailed assessment of organic waste and feedstock and set a national biogas production target. This will give the sector the required urgency, ambition, and confidence.
2. Align financing with climate goals: National spending should shift from fossil fuels to the renewable energy sector in line with climate objectives. This is essential for creating a level playing field and enabling the industry to become cost-competitive and sustainable.
3. Establish an Emission Trading Scheme that includes methane as a Short-Lived Climate Pollutant: To cap and reduce methane emissions, it is essential that they be brought under an emission trading scheme and have a 20-year GWP that is 80 times that of CO2. This will ensure that the actual value of reducing methane emissions is reflected in the price, the reductions are maximised, and the biogas industry is adequately compensated.
4. Enforce sustainability criteria and waste management hierarchy: AD offers several environmental, economic, and social benefits, and the industry must be built and regulated to ensure that these are not compromised. The sustainability criteria and waste management hierarchy provide the basis for this development.
5. Make separate food waste collections and recycling mandatory: If organic waste is not separated from residual waste, it ends up in dumpsites, landfills, or incinerators, leading to emissions and nutrient loss. Once collected, it is currently impossible to differentiate organic waste from residual waste. Therefore, the separate collection of organic waste must be mandated to facilitate its recycling via anaerobic digestion.
6. Introduce support for cooperative models for small farms: To make anaerobic digestion feasible for small farms, cooperative models should be promoted. This would enable feedstocks to be collected from them, processed at the hub, and the biogas, digestate, and profits shared with the farmers.
7. Require nutrient management plans for farms with livestock: A nutrient management plan is a comprehensive strategy for applying nutrients in the form of manure or digestate on farms, optimising their utilisation and minimising environmental impact. The requirement for such a plan, coupled with training, can enhance farm profitability, improve soil quality, and reduce emissions and water pollution.
8. Support the development of digestate as a biofertiliser product: To transition from paying for digestate disposal to selling it in the market at a reasonable price, various interventions must be implemented to establish it as a marketable product. These interventions involve setting quality standards for digestate, requiring nutrient profiling and labelling, and conducting independent audits, verifications, and certifications of digestate.
9. Introduce a biofertiliser obligation for fertiliser suppliers: A renewable fertiliser obligation should be established, requiring a proportion of the fertiliser supplied by manufacturers and distributors to be a biofertiliser, such as compost, digestate, or a derived product. This obligation could be pivotal in stimulating the sector by attracting investment to build a robust supply chain for digestate.
10. Develop the best available techniques and implementation guidance for the biogas industry. Clear, recognised standards and the best available techniques enable developers to define and scope necessary requirements during the early stages of plant development. They also assist regulators in establishing pertinent regulatory requirements and aid operators in optimising plant productivity and safety. Establishing targeted and proportional best practices and implementation guidance will facilitate high operational performance.
11. Provide financial incentives to the biogas industry: In countries where the biogas industry is still in its infancy, financial support and incentive mechanisms establish the scaffolding and groundwork necessary for early growth. They demonstrate the industry’s social, economic, and environmental benefits, build investor and industry confidence, and develop sustainable supply chains for feedstock and products. This support may manifest in the form of carbon incentives, feed-in tariffs, blending mandates, tradable certificates, emissions trading schemes, and low-interest loans.
12. Support micro and small-scale biogas plants: In rural and developing parts of the world, micro-scale biogas plants can provide decentralised and locally sourced energy and waste management solutions. At this scale of deployment, biogas can significantly contribute to achieving sustainable development goals and targets, including improving air and water quality, health and sanitation, energy and food security, reducing deforestation, and gender equality. Specific policies and programmes that support micro-scale digestion must be implemented.
13. Gas operators should be required to assist with biomethane connections. It is recommended that the conditions for biomethane connections be proportionate and specific rather than treated the same as larger bulk supply points. The entry conditions ought to be based on risk and harmonised across various networks and grid operators. Grid operators should be actively mandated to facilitate biomethane connections, with recognition afforded for successful implementations and corresponding penalties for underperformance.
14. Proportionate and biogas-specific gas quality regulation: In situations where the biomethane input constitutes a very small flow into a larger volume of natural gas mix, it should be desirable and feasible to permit certain exceptions or expanded compliance limits that recognise the dilution that occurs while remaining within the overall limits necessary for maintaining safety and adhering to grid delivery gas quality standards. Similarly, the implementation of metreing tolerances and operational status data exchange that correspond with the scale of flows is advisable. There should be flexibility regarding regulatory breaches that have no practical impact on Grid Operators and/or biomethane producers.
15. Balancing national interest with local needs in decision-making: Infrastructure Planning, such as waste management and energy generation, needs to be embedded into strategic plans at the national or regional level, with the most suitable project identified at the local level. It is critical that national interests are balanced with local needs and constraints and that they are reflected in the decision-making process and delegation of authority.
16. Integrate biogas plants into the local economy and community: Biogas plants should be embedded and integrated into the local economy and supply chains. This includes sourcing feedstock from local businesses, farmers, and municipalities, supplying digestate to local farms or residents, employing local companies and people in the construction and operation of the plant, and sourcing building materials and equipment locally to the extent possible.
17. Adopt a risk-based approach to environmental permitting: The environmental risk associated with a specific anaerobic digestion (AD) operation depends on various factors, including the individual plant’s location and context, its design and specifications, processing capacity, the intended feedstocks, and the final products produced. Different sites present varying degrees of risk to the local environment, and any regulatory framework must consider this diverse risk. Ideally, a risk-based regulatory approach employing a source-pathway-receptor model should be embraced, incorporating a hierarchy of regulatory tools tailored to different levels of risk.
18. Introduce a paid expedited option for environmental permitting through accredited professionals: A fundamental aspect of an effective permitting process is implementing an expedited service for an additional fee. This service fast-tracks the permitting process for applications that fulfil specific criteria, ensuring a shorter, guaranteed timeline for review and approval. The fee would enable the regulator to either fund the prioritisation of internal resources or engage accredited professionals. Accredited professionals would be familiar with the permitting template, employ trained experts to review applications according to that template, and effectively act as an extension of the regulator in undertaking this work. This will provide additional bandwidth and capability to the regulator. The final permit would still be issued by the regulator, and the regulator would assess compliance during operations.
19. Develop a standardised permitting template: A comprehensive permitting template should be created and adopted as part of the global permitting certification scheme. The development of this template will allow developers to submit their applications while adhering to local codes, standards, and regulations. It will also aid regulators in receiving complete submissions for their internal review and/or for assessment by accredited individuals. This template will ensure that all essential information is presented clearly and in an organised fashion, minimising the potential for delays resulting from incomplete or unclear submissions.
20. Develop a health, safety, and environmental risk profile for the biogas industry and mandate risk assessments. Given the multifaceted nature of this sector, its risk profile incorporates factors from various industries, including waste and recycling, onshore gas production, agriculture (encompassing crop feedstocks and liquid/solid digestate), and construction (which covers the design, building, and maintenance of assets). A comprehensive risk profile should be established at the national level to monitor and benchmark performance, thereby ensuring the protection of both people and the environment.
Conclusion
There is no “one size fits all” in the biogas industry, as every economy and every plant faces unique challenges in terms of feedstock, technology, and gas offtake. A thorough risk assessment should act as the foundation for health, safety, and environmental protection at the biogas plant. Qualified individuals must assess and mitigate physical, biological, chemical, psychosocial, ergonomic, and environmental risks, and the appropriate policies, controls, and precautions must be in place.
These policies, standards, and regulations offer a foundational starting point for the industry. The comprehensive text of these pillars comprises further recommendations and references alongside examples from around the globe where they have been successfully implemented. These are presented as current best practices and shared experiences from countries where the biogas industry has developed and evolved.
The Global Biogas Regulatory Framework is intended to be a living document that is regularly updated to reflect developments in the policy environment, economics, science, society, and technology.
Acknowledgements
Lead Authors:
Dr Sarika Jain
Flávio Ascenco
Dr Pradeep Monga
Leads, consultants and experts:
Charlotte Morton OBE
David Newman
Dominic Hogg, Equanimator
Iain Ward, Amorin Ward Associates
Josephine Chapman, Chapman Beck Limited
Blazej Zarebski
Deborah Sacks, Sacks Consulting
Will Rogers, Eco Verde Energy
Christine Mapp, Eco Verde Energy
Tej Gidda, GHD
Robert Dysiewicz, GHD
Project Steering Committee Members
WBA team: Kavya Koonampilli, Jon Hughes, Thibaut Raharofalimanana, Karina Navarro, and Alasdair Rogers
Editor: Denise Cowle
Special thanks:
The World Biogas Association (WBA) would like to thank our principle partner the Global Methane Hub (GMH) for its generous funding support, which made this report possible.
Additionally, the authors are grateful for the support of industry partners TotalEnergies and GHD, and legal advisory partner DLA Piper.
WBA also extends its deep gratitude to the industry experts who participated in our survey, workshops and 1:1 consultations, reviewed the drafts and gave their feedback throughout 2024.
Glossary
ABP Animal By-Products
ACOP Approved Code of Practice
AD Anaerobic Digestion
ADCS-Intl Anaerobic Digestion Certification Scheme International
ADQP Anaerobic Digestion Quality Protocol
AET Award in Education and Training
ALARP As Low As Reasonably Practical
APHA Animal and Plant Health Authority
ATEX Explosive Atmosphere
BAT Best Available Techniques
BAT-AEL BAT-Associated Emission Levels
BDTC Biogas Development and Training Centre
BREF Best Available Techniques Reference Documents
CapEx Capital Expenditure
CCOHS Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
CDM Clean Development Mechanism
CDR Carbon Dioxide Removal
CER Certified Emissions Reductions
CfD Contracts for Difference
CFLI Climate Finance Leadership Initiative
CH4 Methane
CHP Combined Heat and Power
CIRIA Construction Industry Research and Information Association
CO Carbon Monoxide
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
COD Chemical Oxygen Demand
COMAH Control of Major Accident Hazards
COP Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
COSHH Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
CV Calorific Value
EAP Employee Assistance Programme
EDFI Association of European Development Finance Institutions
EMS Environmental Management System
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
ESG Environmental Social Governance
ETS Emissions Trading Scheme
EU-OSHA European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
FEED Front-End Engineering Design
FeS Iron Sulphide
GCF Green Climate Fund
GDN Gas Distribution Network
GEF Global Environment Facility
GHG Greenhouse Gas
GHS Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals
GIF Global Infrastructure Facility
GO Grid Operator
H2S Hydrogen Sulphide
HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
HAZID Hazard Identification Process
HAZOP Hazard and Operability Study
HSE Health and Safety Executive
HV High Voltage
IGEM Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers
IMF International Monetary Fund
IMS Integrated Management System
ISCC International Sustainability Certification Scheme
ISO International Organisation for Standardisation
ITMO Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes
IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management
LDAR Leak Detection and Repair
LEL Lower Explosive Limit
LEV Local Exhaust Ventilation System
LNG Liquefied Natural Gas
MSD Musculoskeletal Disorder
N2 Nitrogen
NBMM National Biogas and Manure Management Programme
NDA Non-Destructive Assessment
NDC Nationally Determined Contribution
NH3 Ammonia
NICE National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NMP Nutrient Management Plan
NPPF National Planning Policy Framework
NPPW National Planning Policy for Waste
NVZ Nitrate-Vulnerable Zone
O2 Oxygen
OGI Optical Gas Imaging
OLR Organic Loading Rate
P&ID Piping and Instrumentation Diagram
PFD Process Flow Diagram
POP Persistent Organic Pollutant
PPE Personal Protective Equipment
PPP Public-Private Partnership
PSA Pressure Swing Adsorption
PSSR Pressure System Safety Regulations
PTE Potentially Toxic Elements
PTW Permit to Work
QMS Quality Management System
RED Renewable Energy Directive
RFNBO Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin
RIDDOR Reporting of Incidents, Deaths, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations
RIIO Revenue, Incentives, Innovation, Output
ROC Renewable Obligations Certificate
RRF Recovery and Resilience Facility
SCADA Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
SEPA Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
SO2 Sulphur Dioxide
SOI Statement of Intent
SOP Standard Operating Procedure
SSAFO Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil
SSOW Safe Systems of Work
TOC Total Organic Carbon
TVOC Total Volatile Organic Compounds
UCO Used Cooking Oil
UK HSE UK Health and Safety Executive
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
US-OSHA US Occupational Safety and Health Administration
VESDA Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus
VFA Volatile Fatty Acids
VOC Volatile Organic Compound
WBA World Biogas Association
WHO World Health Organization
WI Wobbe Index
WISH Waste Industry Safety and Health
WMO World Meteorological Organization
WTO World Trade Organization
