Giessen/Großen-Buseck. Stadtwerke Gießen presented its first biogas plant in Großen-Buseck to the public on Sunday, 11 September with guided tours and a colourful supporting programme: Together with farmer Dietmar Klos and engineer Besim Krasnici, SWG commissioned the plant back in May. Since then, the small biomass-fuelled power plant has not only supplied climate-neutral heat and electricity, but also research results. Scientific partners are the Technical University of Central Hesse and Justus Liebig University Giessen. The event was intended to demonstrate the sustainable use of biomass in conjunction with combined heat and power generation in practice, thereby also breaking down any prejudices. Among the numerous visitors were District Administrator Anita Schneider, the Mayor of Giessen Gerda Weigel-Greilich and the Mayor of the municipality of Buseck, Erhard Reinl. The regional council was represented by Reiner Diemel. The district president's goal of covering 30 per cent of the region's energy requirements with local energy sources is supported by the new biogas plant.
Reinhard Paul, Technical Director of the municipal utilities, used the open day as an opportunity to promote SWG's energy strategy. "If we want to make the energy transition a reality, we need realistic concepts," said Reinhard Paul. Biogas and its dual utilisation for heat and electricity production in combination with sustainable agriculture is one of the most promising green technologies of all. The plant will now be used to explore the true potential of biogas utilisation. However, according to Reinhard Paul, the initial results are already promising.
Biogas: energy from the field
At this open day, the biogas plant itself was naturally the centre of interest: originally initiated by engineer Besim Krasnici and the Klos family, the plant produces a combustible biogas from energy sources such as maize, grass and liquid manure by fermentation in airtight containers. This natural methane mixture powers a combined heat and power plant directly on the farm. Electricity and heat flow into the SWG energy networks. The heat generated in this way would be enough to heat a residential area, a swimming pool and a school. The electricity produced in the plant is enough for around 430 average households.
The advantage of biogas lies in the raw material used: because it is a renewable resource, no additional CO2 is added to the atmosphere when it is burnt, as is the case when fossil gas or oil is used. All in all, the biogas plant in Großen-Buseck saves the climate around 1200 tonnes of greenhouse gas per year.
This latest energy plant is part of Stadtwerke Gießen's long-term climate strategy. Back in 2010, SWG voluntarily committed to a significant reduction in climate-damaging greenhouse gases as part of the state of Hesse's "Charter for Climate Protection".