INTRODUCTION TO BIOGAS

Biogas is generated when bacteria degrade biological material in the absence of oxygen, in a process known as anaerobic digestion.

           Since biogas is a mixture of methane (also known as marsh gas or natural gas, CH4) and carbon dioxide it is a renewable fuel produced from waste treatment. Anaerobic digestion is basically a simple process carried out in a number of steps that can use almost any organic material as a substrate - it occurs in digestive systems, marshes, rubbish  dumps,  septic  tanks  and  the  Arctic Tundra.

Humans  tend to make the process as complicated  as  possible by trying  to  improve on nature in complex  machines but a simple approach is still possible.  Conventional anaerobic digestion has been a "liquid" process, where waste is mixed with water to facilitate digestion, but a "solid" process is also possible, as occurs in landfill sites.