Goldman Sachs Carbonomics Report 2023

Each year Goldman Sachs releases a Carbonomics Report, aimed at providing businesses with the ability to discover the cost of reaching net-zero and the themes that are shaping progress towards a low-carbon economy.

At the end of 2023, the report was particularly favourable towards the potential of biogas and biomethane, stating “Renewable gases such as biogas and biomethane are critical, under-appreciated pillars for energy security, affordability and sustainability.”

There are also some standout statements on key areas.

"Biogas can be used directly to produce electricity or it can be upgraded to biomethane and fed into the existing gas infrastructure, making it possible to offer dynamic electricity production that can accomondate fluctuations in electricity demand. The relatively high cost of biogas and biomethane production compared to the natural gas prices means a carbon price of using renewable natural gas instead of conventional natural gas for power generation at 59-112 US$/tnCO2eq depending on the gas prices."

"Central combined heat and power generation (CHP) units can be run on biomethane and provide heat through a district heating network. One of the main advantages of using renewable gas as a de-carbonization technology is the absence of additional costs for the adopting of infrastructure or appliances to make them biomethane-appropriate, since biomethane can act as a natural gas substitute, transported through the natural gas network and used in existing heating appliances or district heating facilities."

"Biomethane is an effective way to abate emissions in transport, which represents 15% of total global emissions. Biomethane can be used as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels in gas vehicles and LNG vessels, with little to no change required to existing CNG and LNG-fuelled engines. Similar to renewable gas adoption in buildings, biomethane can be directly injected into the natural gas grid and then supplied to the already existing network of CNG and LNG filling stations, which means that biomethane deployment in order to substitute conventional fuels does not require any additional investments and time to develop new infrastructure"

You can read the full report at:

https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/carbonomics-updated-cost-curve-shows-diverging-trends.html