Green gas congress: Experts demand quick law for renewable gases!

Green gas congress: Experts demand quick law for renewable gases!

WIFI St. Pölten, Österreich - The renewable gas industry in Austria meets a decisive congress in St. Pölten these days. The specialist congress "Grüngas24", which took place from December 4th to 6th, brought together around 350 participants: inside and 45 exhibitors to discuss the importance and future of renewable gases such as biogas and hydrogen. "The topic of hydrogen is gaining in importance and harbors great opportunities for our federal state," said Lower Austrian governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner. The event illustrated the urgency of driving the long overdue renewable gas law (EGG), which is crucial for many operators to switch their facilities to biomethane and to feed them into the gas network, such as Norbert Hummel, biogas chairman of the compost and biogas association, emphasized.

urgency of the Egg

The mood among the experts is tense. According to Hummel, the biogas industry is "shortly before 12", because many existing systems are looking forward to an uncertain future. The funded electricity tariffs of many large systems expire in the next two to three years, which makes the switch to biomethane urgently necessary. As early as January 2023, the government agreed on a draft of the EGG, but since then there have been little progress in the negotiations. The situation will be worsening in the coming weeks: The Economic Committee of Parliament is expected to decide on the law on June 26. If no agreement is reached, this could have far -reaching consequences for the industry, including the decommissioning of numerous biogas plants and the deletion of planned new buildings for biomethane and hydrogen.

The industry appeals to politics for rapid decisions that are decisive not only for biogas producers, but also for the future energy supply of Austria. With the expiry of the passage agreement between Gazprom and Ukraine at the end of 2024, another challenge could arise: "The delivery options are less, at the same time you want to get away from the fossil gas," warned Hummel. The next time will show whether the Industry’s hopes for a faster implementation of the EGG will come true or whether the uncertainty remains, as well as FuT. reported.