Air Liquide launches its biomethane activity in China

Air Liquide invested and will operate its first biomethane production unit in China by the end of 2022. Located in Huai’an City, in the Jiangsu Province, the unit will have a production capacity of 75 GWh per year. This project demonstrates a circular economy and low-carbon approach, in line with the Group’s Sustainable Objectives and strategic plan ADVANCE.

This new unit will produce biogas from agricultural and livestock waste coming from local farms and purify it into biomethane. With a total production capacity of 75 GWh/y, the unit will inject the biomethane into the city gas grid to be used for household consumption and also generate electricity for its own consumption and injection into the electrical grid.

The biomethane unit will follow a circular economy approach. The digestate, a byproduct material resulting from the biogas production, will be processed to produce bio-fertilizers. These bio-fertilizers will be used in the local agriculture, which, besides food products, will also generate some waste that will be processed in this unit to produce biomethane.

Biomethane has a high potential in China in particular as the Chinese government supports projects promoting the valorization of waste as part of its financial plans for the development of rural regions. 

Air Liquide has developed competencies throughout the whole biomethane value chain, starting with biogas production from waste, to its purification into biomethane, liquefaction, storage, and transportation to distribution. Air Liquide now has 21 biomethane operational production units in the world for a yearly production capacity of about 1.4 TWh.

Emilie Mouren-Renouard, Member of the Air Liquide Executive Committee, supervising Innovation and Development, said: “We are pleased to start this first biomethane project in China, a dynamic market, and to continue expanding this activity with our partners in key countries. Biomethane follows a circular economy approach and contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions, thus to the development of a low-carbon society. This investment is in line with the priorities of our strategic plan ADVANCE for 2025, which links inseparably growth and sustainable future.”